Headache
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Early intervention with almotriptan: results of the AEGIS trial (AXERT Early Migraine Intervention Study).
To evaluate prospectively the efficacy and safety of almotriptan 12.5 mg as compared to placebo when administered within 1 hour of headache pain onset for the acute treatment of 3 migraine headaches. ⋯ Treatment with almotriptan within 1 hour of migraine onset resulted in significantly better clinical outcomes than placebo and tolerability similar to placebo. Acute medications, such as almotriptan, that are both effective and well tolerated may encourage patients to access acute treatment earlier.
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This article reviews hormonal strategies used to treat headaches attributed to the menstrual cycle or to peri- or postmenopausal estrogen fluctuations. These may occur as a result of natural ovarian cycles, or in response to the withdrawal of exogenously administered estrogen. ⋯ Hormonal treatment of migraine is not a first-line treatment strategy for most women with migraine. Evidence is lacking regarding its long term harms and migraine is a contraindication to the use of exogenous estrogen in all women with aura and those aged 35 or older. The harm to benefit balances of several traditional nonhormonal therapies are better established.
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Clinical Trial
Clarification of developing and established clinical allodynia and pain-free outcomes.
The aim of this study was to determine whether clinical indicators of cutaneous allodynia predict the success of migraine therapy with sumatriptan using a brief questionnaire. ⋯ Headaches without allodynia were aborted when treated early or late, and headaches with allodynia were aborted only when allodynia was not present after treatment. These findings suggest that different mechanisms account for allodynia before and after treatment; a developing phase in which central sensitization depends on incoming pain signals from the peripheral nociceptors and an established phase in which the sensitization becomes independent of the pain signals that come from the dura.
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The objective of this study is to classify (according to the current International Headache Society's criteria [ICHD-II]) the headache types that those with self-diagnosed sinus headache experience and to determine barriers to correct diagnosis. ⋯ The majority of those with self-diagnosed sinus headache have migraine or probable migraine. In those patients with migraine, the most common reasons for misdiagnosis include headache triggers, pain location, and associated features ("guilt by provocation, location, and association") commonly attributed to sinus headache. The clinician must be aware of these unique presentations of migraine so that a correct diagnosis can be made and effective treatment instituted. A portion of patients with self-diagnosed sinus headache suffer from a headache type, which is unclassifiable by the current IHS criteria. These headaches are characterized by bilateral maxillary pressure, mild to moderate pain intensity, cranial autonomic symptoms, and the complete absence of migraine features.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Efficacy and safety of topiramate for the treatment of chronic migraine: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of topiramate (100 mg/day) compared with placebo for the treatment of chronic migraine. ⋯ Topiramate treatment at daily doses of approximately 100 mg resulted in statistically significant improvements compared with placebo in mean monthly migraine/migrainous and migraine headache days. Topiramate is safe and generally well tolerated in this group of subjects with chronic migraine, a burdensome condition with important unmet treatment needs. Safety and tolerability of topiramate were consistent with experience in previous clinical trials involving the drug.