The Study
A Case of Wallenberg Syndrome Presenting With Thunderclap Headache and Delayed Diagnosis Due to Negative Findings on Two MRI Examinations
This is like saying, 'My friend got a headache and then found out they had a tiny stroke — so maybe headaches can mean stroke.' But we don’t know if that’s true for anyone else — it just happened once.
Analysis score
Maximum 30 for a case report.
Where the score came from
A lady had a super bad headache and her first two brain scans showed nothing, but later she got dizzy and couldn't swallow — a third scan finally showed a stroke in her brainstem.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 524 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — missing a stroke on early scans can delay life-changing treatment and lead to long-term disability.
- 2Two MRI scans were negative; third MRI on day 5 showed stroke.
- 3Symptoms lasted 27 days.
- 4No artery dissection found.
- 5Right PICA was underdeveloped.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Cureus
Year
2025
Authors
Yoshiro Nozaki, Mitsuharu Yamamoto, Koichiro Demura, Yuto Sakakibara
Related Content
Claims (5)
Sometimes, a full-body MRI scan might miss a serious problem, making doctors think everything’s fine when it’s not — and that delay could lead to really bad health results.
An older woman who had a stroke before suddenly got a terrible headache that came out of nowhere, then started having trouble with dizziness, numbness on one side of her face, and swallowing. A scan five days later finally showed a new stroke in her brainstem, even though two earlier scans had come back normal.
A 65-year-old woman had a stroke in her brainstem, but the first two MRI scans didn’t show it—doctors only saw the damage after waiting five days.
A person had a sudden, severe headache and a brain stroke in a specific area called the medulla, but scans showed no broken blood vessels—so the stroke wasn’t caused by a tear in the artery, even though that’s usually what you’d expect with such a headache.
A person with a rare brain condition called Wallenberg syndrome had trouble swallowing and felt dizzy for over a month, so they had to go to a rehab hospital—even though they were already taking blood-thinning medicine.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.