Clinical Pediatrics: Open Access
Open Access
ISSN: 2572-0775
ISSN: 2572-0775
Omer Abbas Ahmed
American Hospital Dubai, UAE
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Clin Pediatr
Headache is one of the most common complaints in children and adolescents. The incidence of chronic or recurrent headaches in children is about 40% by the age of 7 years and goes to 75% by 15 years of age. Sex ratios of children affected varies by age: between 3-7 yrs boys dominate, gets equal mid childhood (7-11 years)but thereafter we see more girls affected than boys. Headaches in children almost always raise serious concerns in parents. We would always remember about 3,800 CNS tumours are diagnosed annually in US. There have been several reports of delayed presentations of childhood brain tumors. However, childhood headaches are rarely caused by serious underlying disorders. The evaluation of headaches in children varies widely depending on the presentation�s settings. In a historical cohort of 48,575 children aged 5-17 years who were seen by primary care providers for complaint of headache, 19 percent were diagnosed with primary headache at the time of presentation, 1.1 percent was diagnosed with secondary headache, and 79.7 percent received no formal diagnosis.Unfortunately, culturally children�s headaches are taken rather lightly in many communities. Most children who present to paediatric emergency departments with acute headache have a viral illness or an upper respiratory infection as the cause of their headache, although more sinister conditions occasionally are diagnosed. The lecture is an overview of this common problematic symptom. It partly covers epidemiology, pathogenesis, pathophysiology, classification, triggers, clinical evaluation and management of headaches in children and adolescents. It is rather a summary to this comprehensive subject. Five short interactive clinical cases of this problem are presented in the last ten minutes for audience�s discussion.
Omer Ahmed has joined The American Hospital, Dubai (in 2009), after 15 years as a Consultant Paediatrician in UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health UK. His Paediatrics training was in Sabah Hospital- Kuwait, Alder Hay Hospital- Liverpool, Great Ormond Street and The Royal Free Hospital in London before taking a Consultant post in Stevenage, Hertfordshire UK. Earlier in his career, Dr Ahmed has worked in Sudan, Libya and Kuwait. His experience covers wide areas in Child Health as a General Paediatrician. Dr Ahmed has several publications and presented/attended in several Paediatrics meetings and conferences.