Evolution of migraine-associated symptoms in menstrually related migraine following symptomatic treatment with almotriptan.

Author(s): Allais G, Acuto G, Benedetto C, D'Andrea G, Grazzi L, Manzoni GC, Moschiano F, d'Onofrio F, Valguarnera F, Bussone G

Affiliation(s): Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Women's Headache Center, University of Turin, Via Ventimiglia 3, 10126, Turin, Italy. gb.allais@tiscali.it

Publication date & source: 2010-06, Neurol Sci., 31 Suppl 1:S115-9.

Publication type: Multicenter Study; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

In addition to headache, migraine is characterized by a series of symptoms that negatively affects the quality of life of patients. Generally, these are represented by nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia and osmophobia, with a cumulative percentage of the onset in about 90% of the patients. From this point of view, menstrually related migraine--a particularly difficult-to-treat form of primary headache--is no different from other forms of migraine. Symptomatic treatment should therefore be evaluated not only in terms of headache relief, but also by considering its effect on these migraine-associated symptoms (MAS). Starting from the data collected in a recently completed multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study with almotriptan in menstrually related migraine, an analysis of the effect of this drug on the evolution of MAS was performed. Data suggest that almotriptan shows excellent efficacy on MAS in comparison to the placebo, with a significant reduction in the percentages of suffering patients over a 2-h period of time.