rcvs
Table of Contents
reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS)
see also:
Introduction
- a group of conditions characterised by a thunderclap headache and reversible vasoconstriction of the cerebral arteries
- the headaches are usually fairly short in duration (a few hours) and usually, headaches will periodically recur over days or weeks, and may be associated with photophobia, nausea and vomiting
Epidemiology
- mainly women aged 20-50yrs age but can affect men or adolescents
Risk factors
- pregnancy
- puerperium
- many medications especially sympathomimetics, and substances (incl. cocaine, THC)
- migraine
- various other conditions
Diagnosis
- various criteria have been suggested
- acute severe headache (usually thunderclap) +/- focial neurologic deficits or seizures with normal neuroimaging or watershed infarct or vasogenic ischaemia, or,
- recurrent thunderclap headaches with normal neuroimaging, or,
- no thunderclap headache, but abnormal angiographic findings with a normal neuroimaging study
- CSF studies are normal or near normal
Ix
rcvs.txt · Last modified: 2026/08/19 09:01 by wh