A 54-year-old man presents to the office because of progressively severe frontal headaches that are...

This presentation has “red flags” for raised intracranial pressure: headaches that are progressive, worse in the morning, and worsened by coughing/valsalva. In MCCQE objectives, these features require urgent evaluation for secondary causes (e.g., intracranial mass, hemorrhage, obstructive hydrocephalus) rather than empiric treatment for primary headache. His chronic cough and heavy smoking increase concern for an underlying malignancy with possible brain metastasis or paraneoplastic processes, further strengthening the indication for neuroimaging. Therefore, the best next step is CT head (often the fastest initial test to identify mass effect, hemorrhage, or hydrocephalus; MRI may follow depending on findings).

Treating presumed migraine with a triptan is inappropriate when secondary headache is possible and could also pose vascular risk. His blood pressure is elevated but not in a hypertensive emergency and does not explain these classic intracranial pressure features; serial BP monitoring or starting antihypertensives should not delay imaging. Temporal arteritis is less likely without temporal tenderness, jaw claudication, visual symptoms, or systemic inflammatory clues.