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NURS 530 Neurologic Function Case Study
West Coast University
NURS 530 Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology
Dr. Amber McCall
, 2
Neurologic Function Case Study
Part 2
Vital Information – Migraine
Case Study: A 45-year-old male presents to the emergency room complaining of right-sided
headache that started today. Reports upon waking this morning, he looked at his cellphone and
the bright light from the screen triggered a visual disturbance in his field of vision that slowly
progressed to a temporary loss of vision to the left side of his eye. After a few minutes, the
visual disturbance passed and normal vision resumed. He then reported being sensitive to all
bright lights and chose to stay in bed. He further states that within less than an hour, the right
sided headache set in 8/10 with some nausea and vomiting. He says that this has happened a
few times before and figured it was just a headache. He has taken Advil in the past and reports
taking 2 pills after the headache set in this morning without relief. Currently, headache is 6/10.
Patient also reports starting a low carbohydrate diet recently and has limited amount of sleep
due to stressful issues ongoing in his life and believes that these changes have contributed to
the headaches. Patient also states that he remembers that his father has had frequent
migraines in the past and passed from a stroke a few years ago.
Pathophysiology
It was suggested in the past that migraines occurred due to “vasoconstriction as the
mechanism of the migraine aura and vasodilation as the mechanism of migraine pain” but has
not been well-supported, in fact, the exact pathophysiology remains unknown (Recober, 2021).
Therefore, the best way to understand the pathophysiology of a migraine is to look at the
NURS 530 Neurologic Function Case Study
West Coast University
NURS 530 Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology
Dr. Amber McCall
, 2
Neurologic Function Case Study
Part 2
Vital Information – Migraine
Case Study: A 45-year-old male presents to the emergency room complaining of right-sided
headache that started today. Reports upon waking this morning, he looked at his cellphone and
the bright light from the screen triggered a visual disturbance in his field of vision that slowly
progressed to a temporary loss of vision to the left side of his eye. After a few minutes, the
visual disturbance passed and normal vision resumed. He then reported being sensitive to all
bright lights and chose to stay in bed. He further states that within less than an hour, the right
sided headache set in 8/10 with some nausea and vomiting. He says that this has happened a
few times before and figured it was just a headache. He has taken Advil in the past and reports
taking 2 pills after the headache set in this morning without relief. Currently, headache is 6/10.
Patient also reports starting a low carbohydrate diet recently and has limited amount of sleep
due to stressful issues ongoing in his life and believes that these changes have contributed to
the headaches. Patient also states that he remembers that his father has had frequent
migraines in the past and passed from a stroke a few years ago.
Pathophysiology
It was suggested in the past that migraines occurred due to “vasoconstriction as the
mechanism of the migraine aura and vasodilation as the mechanism of migraine pain” but has
not been well-supported, in fact, the exact pathophysiology remains unknown (Recober, 2021).
Therefore, the best way to understand the pathophysiology of a migraine is to look at the
