Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P C Machado.
The authors describe the case of an adolescent who had suffered from unilateral continuous headache since she was 8 years old. Treatment with indomethacin 50 mg/day promptly relieved the pain which had affected her for the previous 9 years. To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest onset of hemicrania continua reported.
OBJECTIVE: To report a case of Hemicrania Continua in a female aged 17, who presented this kind of headache for 9 years without diagnosis. Although this may be a relatively rare primary headache, the immediate response to clinical treatment with indomethacin justifies this entity be better known. METHODS: Case report of a female adolescent who had presented Hemicrania Continua for many years, without diagnosis and adequate treatment. Review of the relevant medical literature by means of Medline. RESULTS: Treatment with low doses of indomethacin caused complete cessation of the headache. CONCLUSION: Hemicrania Continua must be considered as a diagnostic possibility for patients who present continuous unilateral headache, without abnormalities in the clinical, neurologic and laboratorial examination, irrespective of the age the headache starts. This is the youngest patient reported to have Hemicrania continua and it was brought to discussion by a medical student, aware of this possible diagnosis.
This report describes the surgical experience gained from 32 patients with substernal goitre, operated on during January 1995 to December 1997. The material corresponds to 15.7% of the total thyroidectomies performed. The diagnosis was clinical. In spite of 65.6% of the patients being asymptomatic, breathing problems, dysphagia and hyperthyroidism were observed. The patients underwent tests of thyroid function, simple chest radiograph and computerized tomography of mediastinum. All patients underwent surgical treatment through a transverse cervical incision. Two patients (6.25%) needed median sternotomy. Vocal cord palsy (3.12%), transient hypocalcemia (6.25%) and one death due to cardiac causes (3.12%) were the complications that occurred.