History of Present Illness (HPI)
A 19 year old female with asthma presents with intermittent headaches for two months. She states that her headaches are diffuse, occur almost daily, and are worse in the morning. She tried taking ibuprofen which did not relieve her symptoms, and she is not aware of any triggers that worsen her headaches. Over the past few weeks she also reports brief episodes of blurred vision when she bends over. In the past few days, she has started to notice a “swooshing” sound in her ears as well. She’s currently a freshman at college and believes she has gained around 20 pounds over the course of the year. She denies drinking alcohol or use of any drugs.
What’s on your differential diagnosis? Choose at least 3 before moving on!
Tension Headache
Cluster Headache
Ocular Migraine
Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH)
Migraine without Aura
Vitreous hemorrhage
Acute angle closure glaucoma
Primary open angle glaucoma
Subdural Hematoma
Intracranial mass
Meningitis
Sinusitis
Hypertensive Emergency
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