Child health · UKMLA & AKT
Tension headache
A free high-yield preview for the UKMLA Applied Knowledge Test. Below are the key points to recognise tension headache — the full SA Note notes add investigations, management, complications and 10 practice questions.
Key high-yield points
- TTH is a clinical diagnosis of exclusion - red flags must be ruled out first. The exam question highlights that a child with headache, visual field defect, and growth failure points away from TTH.
- Thunderclap onset - suspect subarachnoid haemorrhage
- Fever, neck stiffness, photophobia - suspect meningitis/encephalitis
- New focal neurological signs, papilloedema - suspect raised ICP or space-occupying lesion
- Headache worsened by Valsalva - suspect raised ICP
- Morning headache worsening on waking - suspect raised ICP
- Headache + visual field defect + growth failure in a child - consider craniopharyngioma or pituitary lesion
Bitemporal superior quadrantanopia + short stature + headache = pituitary adenoma. Craniopharyngioma gives bitemporal INFERIOR quadrantanopia. Do not confuse the two.
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