249 research outputs found
Rapid Responders to Frovatriptan in Acute Migraine Treatment: Results from a Long-Term, Open-Label Study
Background. the Chronic Nature of Migraine and the Reliance on Acute Treatment Constitute the Basis of the Present Long-Term, Open-Label Study. Objectives. First, Assessment of the Tolerability and Safety of Frovatriptan, 2.5-7.5 Mg Taken Orally over 24 Hours, for the Acute Treatment of Migraine, Repeatedly over a 12-Month Period. Second, Assessment of the Efficacy and Tolerability of a Second, Double-Blind Dose of 2.5-Mg Frovatriptan, Compared with Placebo, for Nonresponse at 2 Hours after Treatment of Moderate or Severe Headache with 2.5-Mg Frovatriptan. Results. with Regard to the First Attack Treated, 173 (36%) of the 486 Subjects in the Study Did Not Take a Second Dose at 2 Hours for Nonresponse. at 2 Hours and 4 Hours, These Rapid Responders Experienced a Decrease in Headache Intensity from Moderate or Severe to Mild or No Pain in 84% and 98%, Respectively ( Headache Response ). Six Percent of Them Experienced Recurrence of Moderate or Severe Headache within 24 Hours Following a Response at 4 Hours and 12% Took Rescue Medication. the Response, Measured in Terms of Median Time to Complete Migraine Relief, Was Maintained over 30 Subsequent Migraine Attacks, Treated from Attack 2 Onwards over the Course of 12 Months. Conclusion. Frovatriptan Provides a Remarkably Fast and High Headache Response in a Subgroup of More Than One-Third of Migraineurs, with a Very Low 24-Hour Headache Recurrence and Low Rescue Medication Intake. © 2009 American Academy of Pain Medicine
Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania in paediatric age: report of two cases
Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania (CPH) is a rare primary headache syndrome, which is classified along with hemicrania continua and short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT) as trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia (TACs). CPH is characterised by short-lasting (2–30 min), severe and multiple (more than 5/day) pain attacks. Headache is unilateral, and fronto-orbital-temporal pain is combined with cranial autonomic symptoms. According to the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edition, the attacks are absolutely responsive to indomethacin. CPH has been only rarely and incompletely described in the developmental age. Here, we describe two cases concerning a 7-year-old boy and a 11-year-old boy with short-lasting, recurrent headache combined with cranial autonomic features. Pain was described as excruciating, and was non-responsive to most traditional analgesic drugs. The clinical features of our children’s headache and the positive response to indomethacin led us to propose the diagnosis of CPH. Therefore, our children can be included amongst the very few cases of this trigeminal autonomic cephalgia described in the paediatric age
A review of diagnostic and functional imaging in headache
The neuroimaging of
headache patients has revolutionised
our understanding of the pathophysiology
of primary headaches and provided
unique insights into these syndromes.
Modern imaging studies
point, together with the clinical picture,
towards a central triggering
cause. The early functional imaging
work using positron emission
tomography shed light on the genesis
of some syndromes, and has
recently been refined, implying that
the observed activation in migraine
(brainstem) and in several trigeminal-autonomic headaches (hypothalamic
grey) is involved in the pain
process in either a permissive or
triggering manner rather than simply
as a response to first-division nociception
per se. Using the advanced
method of voxel-based morphometry,
it has been suggested that there
is a correlation between the brain
area activated specifically in acute
cluster headache — the posterior
hypothalamic grey matter — and an
increase in grey matter in the same
region. No structural changes have
been found for migraine and medication
overuse headache, whereas
patients with chronic tension-type
headache demonstrated a significant
grey matter decrease in regions
known to be involved in pain processing.
Modern neuroimaging thus
clearly suggests that most primary
headache syndromes are predominantly
driven from the brain, activating
the trigeminovascular reflex and
needing therapeutics that act on both
sides: centrally and peripherally
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