Cardiac cephalalgia presented with a thunderclap headache and an isolated exertional headache: report of 2 cases.

Headache could be the only manifestation of a myocardial infarction or angina pectoris. The recognition of myocardial ischemia as the cause of headache is important in clinical practice. We report two cases of cardiac cephalalgia, defined as headache attributed to myocardial ischemia. The first patient presented with a thunderclap headache probably secondary to a myocardial ischemia and the second patient presented with isolated headaches secondary to angina pectoris triggered by exertions. The clinical presentations of cardiac cephalalgia are highly variable and the most consistent feature is severe in intensity. Cardiac cephalalgia should be considered one of the differential diagnoses of exertional headache and thunderclap headache when the patient is older or has cardiovascular risk factors.