Plenary I: Clinical Diagnosis

- Introduction to Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension: Overview, Epidemiology, Risk Factors, Precipitating Factors, Pathogenesis, Clinical presentation and assessment

• Speaker: Dr. Danny Monsour

- Challenges in diagnosis and reasons not to miss a diagnosis of SIH: Challenges in diagnostic criteria, Differential diagnosis, Utility of LP OP, morbidity and disability/QoL, and potential long-term complications

• Speaker: Dr. Farnaz Amoozegar

Q&A - CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS

Dr. Danny Monsour is a headache neurologist and the Director of the Axon Institute for Headaches and Neurological Sciences in Oakville, Ontario. He completed his Adult Neurology residency and fellowship in headache medicine at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Monsour is the consultant neurologist for the UHN Intracranial Hypotension Program and an active member of the Ontario Headache Consortium, Canadian Headache Society, and American Headache Society.

He also serves as an active member of the Medical Advisory Board for Spinal CSF Leak Canada.

Dr. Farnaz Amoozegar is a Clinical Associate Professor in the department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Calgary. She practices as a neurologist and headache specialist at the Calgary Headache Assessment and Management Program. Dr. Amoozegar completed undergraduate studies and her medical training at the University of Calgary, followed by a neurology residency at the University of Ottawa.  She then returned to Calgary and completed subspecialty training in the area of Headache and Facial pain with Dr. Werner Becker.  Over the next few years, her interest in clinical research led her to complete a Masters Degree in Clinical Epidemiology.  She has been involved in research in the field of headache for over 15 years.  She is the current director of the headache research program at the University of Calgary, and has been the principal investigator of several studies at the site. She been awarded research grants from the University of Calgary and the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR).  

Dr. Amoozegar has a special interest in the area of Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension (SIH) and is involved in many educational, advocacy, and research initiatives to raise awareness and advance knowledge in this field. She has also pioneered the establishment of the first registry for Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension in Calgary, which has now expanded to Toronto. Dr. Amoozegar is an active Member of the Medical Advisory Board and the Chair of the Scientific Committee for Spinal CSF Leak Canada.

Dr. Hoydonckx is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto. She has a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology. Her interests are in chronic pain treatments, mostly in the area of craniofacial pain. She created the multidisciplinary Intracranial Hypotension program at University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto and the Craniofacial Pain Program at Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute.

She has leadership roles in national and international pain organizations such as Canadian Pain Society and American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine. She has received the prestigious 2021 Canadian Pain Society Early Career Investigator Pain Research Grant and more recently the 2024 ASRA Early-Investigator grant for her ongoing randomized controlled KetHead trial where she investigates the therapeutic effect of high dose ketamine infusions on chronic daily headaches. She recently also received PSI funding for an observational study on percutaneous occipital nerve blocks for SIH. Together with Dr. Amoozegar, Dr. Hoydonckx is a co-investigator on a multi-center SIH registry, currently recruiting patients in Calgary and Toronto.

Dr. Hoydonckx is an active member of Medical Advisory Board and the Vice chair of the scientific committee for Spinal CSF Leak Canada.

Dr. Tommy Chan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences at Western University and a dual board-certified neurologist, holding certifications from both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry. He is also an accredited headache specialist by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS). 

Dr. Chan is the Director of the John H. Kreeft Headache Clinic and the co-chair for the National Neurology Resident Headache Course.

Dr. Chan completed his adult neurology residency training program at the University of Western, Ontario and later a Headache Fellowship at Stanford University, California.

His clinical and research interests focus on primary and secondary headache disorders. Dr. Chan has published over 30 peer-reviewed papers as of 2024 and co-authored chapters on "Post-traumatic headache disorders" and "Functional Illness: Headaches." He is actively involved in research aimed at advancing the understanding and management of headache disorders.

Dr. Chan is a member the Medical Advisory Board for Spinal CSF Leak Canada, in addition to being a member of the American Headache Society, the Canadian Headache Society, and the International Headache Society. He also serves as a reviewer for several prestigious medical journals, including Cephalalgia, Headache, The Journal of Headache and Pain, BMC Neurology, Clinical Neurology & Neurosurgery, The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, and The Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology.