A 2 years prospective evaluation study on onabotulinumtoxinA 195 U in chronic migraine

Background: OnabotulinumtoxinA (Botox®) is the first and so far the only treatment to receive a specific license for prevention of chronic migraine (CM). In our Headache Clinic the therapy with onabotulinumtoxinA is routinely administered to CM patients on a daily basis since 2001. Preventive treatment with onabotulinumtoxinA was offered to all patients that were 1) adults; 2) fulfilling the ICHD-II criteria for CM with or without analgesic overuse; and 3) with contraindications or lack of efficacy or tolerability to other preventive drugs. Exclusion criteria were coexistent of neuromuscular disorders, psychiatric diseases considered incompatible with such kind of treatment, pregnancy and breastfeeding

Ictal epileptic headache. an old story with courses and appeals

The term "ictal epileptic headache" has been recently proposed to classify the clinical picture in which headache is the isolated ictal symptom of a seizure. There is emerging evidence from both basic and clinical neurosciences that cortical spreading depression and an epileptic focus may facilitate each other, although with a different degree of efficiency. This review address the long history which lead to the 'migralepsy' concept to the new emerging pathophysiological aspects, and clinical and electroencephalography evidences of ictal epileptic headache. Here, we review and discuss the common physiopathology mechanisms and the historical aspects underlying the link between headache and epilepsy. Either experimental or clinical measures are required to better understand this latter relationship: the development of animal models, molecular studies defining more precise genotype/phenotype correlations as well as multicenter clinical studies with revision of clinical criteria for headache-/epilepsy-related disorders represent the start of future research. Therefore, the definition of ictal epileptic headache should be used to classify the rare events in which headache is the only manifestation of a seizure. Finally, using our recently published criteria, we will be able to clarify if ictal epileptic headache represents an underestimated phenomenon or not

Influence of magnetic fields on the color screening masses

We present some recent results obtained in the study of the color magnetic and electric screening masses in the QCD plasma. In particular, we discuss how the masses get modified by strong external fields which are expected to be created in physical situations such as heavy-ion collisions.Comment: Talk presented at the 35th annual International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE 2017), 18-24 June 2017, Granada, Spain. 8 Pages, 7 Figure

Flux tubes in Nf=2+1N_f=2+1 QCD with external magnetic fields

We study the behavior of the confining flux tube in $N_f=2+1$ QCD at the physical point, discretized with the stout smearing improved staggered quark action and the tree level Symanzik gauge action. We discuss how it depends on a uniform external magnetic field, showing how it displays anisotropies with respect to the magnetic field direction. Moreover, we compare the observed anisotropy pattern with that of the static quark-antiquark potential we obtained in our previous works.Comment: 8 pages, 35th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Granada, Spai

Magnetic field effects on the static quark potential at zero and finite temperature

We investigate the static $Q\bar{Q}$ potential at zero and finite temperature in the presence of a constant and uniform external magnetic field $\vec{B}$, for several values of the lattice spacing and for different orientations with respect to $\vec{B}$. As a byproduct, we provide continuum limit extrapolated results for the string tension, the Coulomb coupling and the Sommer parameter at $T = 0$ and $B = 0$. We confirm the presence in the continuum of a $B$-induced anisotropy, regarding essentially the string tension, for which it is of the order of 15\% at $|e| B \sim 1~{\rm GeV}^2$ and would suggest, if extrapolated to larger fields, a vanishing string tension along the magnetic field for $|e| B \gtrsim 4$ GeV$^2$. The angular dependence for $|e| B \lesssim 1$ GeV$^2$ can be nicely parametrized by the first allowed term in an angular Fourier expansion, corresponding to a quadrupole deformation. Finally, for $T \neq 0$, the main effect of the magnetic field is a general suppression of the string tension, leading to a precocious loss of the confining properties: this happens even before the appearance of inverse magnetic catalysis in the chiral condensate, supporting the idea that the influence of the magnetic field on the confining properties is the leading effect originating the decrease of $T_c$ as a function of $B$.Comment: 13 pages, 4 tables, 14 figure

Drug-resistant chronic cluster headache successfully treated with supraorbital plus occipital nerve stimulation. A rare case report

Chronic cluster headache (CCH) is a rare and extremely disabling headache syndrome with a recent clinical systematization of its clinical frame from the European Headache Federation [1]. We present a case of a young man affected by drug-resistant chronic CH (rCCH) who showed improvement after a two-time combined supraorbital and occipital nerve stimulation (S-ONS). The clinical improvement was still present at 6-month follow-up

Screening masses in strong external magnetic fields

We present results for the (color)magnetic and (color)electric screening masses of the Quark-Gluon Plasma in the presence of an external magnetic field. The screening masses are extracted from the correlators of Polyakov loops, determined by lattice QCD simulations at the physical point. We explore temperatures in the range $200\,\mathrm{MeV}\lesssim T\lesssim 330\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and magnetic field intensities up to $|e|B \sim 1.3\,\mathrm{GeV}^2$. We find that both screening masses are increasing functions of the magnetic field and that the dependence on $B$ becomes weaker for larger temperatures. In the case of the magnetic screening mass a slight anisotropy is also observable.Comment: 8 pages, 2 tables, 10 eps figures; This version matches the published on

Eletriptan in the management of acute migraine. An update on the evidence for efficacy, safety, and consistent response

Migraine is a multifactorial, neurological and disabling disorder, also characterized by several autonomic symptoms. Triptans, selective serotonin 5-HT1B/1D agonists, are the first-line treatment option for moderate-to-severe headache attacks. In this paper, we review the recent data on eletriptan clinical efficacy, safety, and tolerability, and potential clinically relevant interactions with other drugs. Among triptans, eletriptan shows a consistent and significant clinical efficacy and a good tolerability profile in the treatment of migraine, especially for patients with cardiovascular risk factors without coronary artery disease. It shows the most favorable clinical response, together with sumatriptan injections, zolmitriptan and rizatriptan. Additionally, eletriptan shows the most complex pharmacokinetic/dynamic profile compared with the other triptans. It is metabolized primarily by the CYP3A4 hepatic enzyme and therefore the concomitant administration of CYP3A4-potent inhibitors should be carefully evaluated. A relatively low risk of serotonin syndrome is given by the co-administration with serotoninergic drugs. No clinically relevant interaction has been found with drugs used for migraine prophylactic treatment or other acute drugs, with the exception of ergot derivatives that should not be co-administered with eletriptan