Brain Imaging Findings in Children with Headache

BACKGROUND: Headache is a common problem in children, but a small percentage of them have positive findings on CT scan and MRI, and considering that CT scan and MRI is costly and risks of radiation is high for children. Therefore the aim of this study is evaluating CT scans and MRI finding in children with headache. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 353 children with headaches that 217 patients underwent CT and 136 patients underwent MRI. The data collected through the report sheet of CT scan and MRI and analyzed using SPSS software and chi-square test. RESULTS: According to the study, 88.9% of MRI and 75.7% of CT scan were normal. Abnormal findings on CT scan was significantly higher in boys (12.2% vs. 9.5%) (P= 0.03) and it was determined that MRI findings was also significantly higher in boys (26.3% vs. 21.5%) (P=0.04). The most common abnormal findings on CT scan was mass (16.6%) and hematoma (16.6%) and the most common abnormal findings on MRI was cysts (26.3%). CONCLUSION: The results of our study showed that the majority of imaging results in patients with headache was normal or benign lesions. Therefore, imaging should be performed only in children with abnormal findings on physical examination.