Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Headache classification by history has only limited predictive value for headache episodes treated in controlled trials with OTC analgesics.
We investigated the consistency between the headache diagnosis based on medical history and three treated headache episodes diagnosed based on a diary. In a randomized double-blind study including individuals with either migraine or tension-type headache (TTH) we showed significant superiority of the fixed combination of acetylsalicylic acid + paracetamol + caffeine over the combination without caffeine, the single preparations, and placebo in the treatment of headache. A neurologist performed a classification of the usual headache episodes and each of the three treated ones in a blinded fashion based on a structured questionnaire. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that an initial headache diagnosis does not accurately predict the headache type treated in a randomized trial. Symptom features of treated headaches should be captured to ensure that the attack is of the type targeted by the clinical trial. The International Headache Society Guidelines for controlled clinical trials should be updated accordingly.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Management of medication overuse headache: 1-year randomized multicentre open-label trial.
It is a general belief that patients with medication overuse headache (MOH) need withdrawal of acute headache medication before they respond to prophylactic medication. In this 1-year open-labelled, multicentre study intention-to-treat analyses were performed on 56 patients with MOH. These were randomly assigned to receive prophylactic treatment from the start without detoxification, undergo a standard out-patient detoxification programme without prophylactic treatment from the start, or no specific treatment (5-month follow-up). ⋯ However, the prophylaxis group had the greatest decrease in headache days compared with baseline, and also a significantly more pronounced reduction in total headache index (headache days/month x headache intensity x headache hours) at months 3 (P = 0.003) and 12 (P = 0.017) compared with the withdrawal group. At month 12, 53% of patients in the prophylaxis group had > or = 50% reduction in monthly headache days compared with 25% in the withdrawal group (P = 0.081). Early introduction of preventive treatment without a previous detoxification programme reduced total headache suffering more effectively compared with abrupt withdrawal. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00159588).
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The cholinomimetic agent carbachol induces headache in healthy subjects.
The parasympathetic nervous system is likely to be involved in migraine pathogenesis. We hypothesized that the cholinomimetic agonist carbachol would induce headache and vasodilation of cephalic and radial arteries. Carbachol (3 microg/kg) or placebo was randomly infused into 12 healthy subjects in a double-blind crossover study. ⋯ The area under the curve for headache was increased after carbachol compared with placebo both during infusion (0-30 min) (P = 0.042) and in the postinfusion period (30-90 min) (P = 0.027). Carbachol infusion caused a drop in V(MCA) (P = 0.003) and an increase in STA diameter (P = 0.006), but no increase in the RA diameter (P = 0.200). In conclusion, the study demonstrated that carbachol caused headache and dilation of cephalic arteries in healthy subjects.
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Medication overuse headache (MOH) is a growing problem worldwide and a challenge for clinicians and investigators. This study aims to contribute to the ongoing debate surrounding the classification of MOH. Applying the revised diagnostic criteria for MOH contained in the updated International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II), we enrolled 140 probable MOH (p-MOH) patients. ⋯ MOH diagnosis was confirmed 2 months after detoxification in 71% of patients, who reverted to an episodic headache pattern and stopped their drug overuse The overall clinical situation at 2 months closely reflected the 1-year trend. The 2-month period after drug withdrawal should be retained as a diagnostic criterion in the ICHD-II because it is useful not only as a diagnostic parameter, but also as predictor of a good outcome of 1-year drug withdrawal. In addition, the present findings point to the need for a more objective criterion to quantify headache frequency after drug withdrawal.
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The classification subcommittee of the International Headache Society (IHS) has recently suggested revised criteria for medication overuse headache (MOH) and chronic migraine (CM). We field tested these revised criteria by applying them to the headache population at the Danish Headache Centre and compared the results with those using the current criteria. For CM we also tested two alternative criteria, one requiring > or = 4 migraine days/month and > or = 15 headache days/month, the second requiring > or = 15 headache days/month and > or = 50% migraine days. ⋯ Our data suggest that the IHS has succeeded in choosing new criteria for CM which are neither too strict, nor too loose. For MOH, a shift to the appendix criteria will increase the number of MOH patients, but take into account the possibility of permanent changes in pain perception due to medication overuse and the possibility of a renewed effect of prophylactic drugs due to medication withdrawal. We therefore recommend the implementation of the appendix criteria for both MOH and CM into the main body of the International Classification of Headache Disorders.