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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg 2018; 13(04): 1229-1232
DOI: 10.4103/ajns.AJNS_197_17
Case Report

Chronic unilateral temporo-occipital headache attributed to unilateral C3 radiculopathy

Hak-cheol Ko
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul
,
Byung-chul Son
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul
2   Catholic Neuroscience Institute, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul
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Although C1–C3 upper cervical radiculopathy can cause a headache, most case reports are occipital neuralgia (ON), not headache. Here, we report a unique case of chronic temporo-occipital headache due to C3 radiculopathy. A 62-year-old male presented with a chronic left-sided temporo-occipital headache with duration of 4 years. The headache was aching and pressure like in nature. It had a typical radiating pattern on every occasion. It started in the posterior temporal area above the ear. It then extended to retroauricular area, then suboccipital area, and lateral neck. No hypesthesia, allodynia, or limitation in neck motion was noted. Myelographic computed tomography revealed a left-sided C2/C3 foraminal stenosis. Subsequent foraminotomy and decompression of the left C3 completely alleviated the chronic left-sided temporo-occipital headache. Unilateral C3 radiculopathy can cause chronic temporo-occipital headache besides ON. The present case might be a typical example of “headache attributed to upper cervical radiculopathy” (A11.2.4) rather than cervicogenic headache according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition (beta version).

Key-words:

C3 radiculopathy - greater occipital nerve - headache - lesser occipital nerve - occipital neuralgia


Publication History

Article published online:
14 September 2022

© 2018. Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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