Newborn Screening: Is More Really Better?

Abstract

Source: Wiendels NJ, van der Geest MCM, Neven AK, et al. Chronic daily headache in children and adolescents. Headache. 2005;45:678-683. A retrospective review of medical records of 79 children and adolescents younger than age 16 years with headache more than 15 days a month is reported from Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands. Chronic daily headache (CDH) occurred in 57 (72%) patients for more than 6 months. Headache duration was more than 4 hours a day in 60% of the cases. Analgesics were used by 60 children (76%), with daily use in 13 (16%). Frequent school absenteeism and sleeping problems were reported in one-third of patients. Twenty-eight patients (35%) could be classified according to the International Headache Criteria: 17 (22%) had chronic tension-type headaches, 5 (6%) had chronic migraine, 6 (8%) had medication overuse headache, 15 (19%) did not fit any category, and 36 (46%) presented insufficient data for classification. Withdrawal of all analgesic medication is recommended in CDH management.