Treatment of hemiplegic migraine with triptans
Ville Artto, Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland (tel.: +358 9 471 76774; fax: +358 9 471 74003; e-mail: [email protected]).
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of triptans in patients who suffer from familial or sporadic hemiplegic migraine. Seventy-six subjects had used triptans at least once as an abortive treatment. Average triptan response was 6.9 (SD ±3.1) and adverse event severity 4.9 (SD ±3.3) on a scale from 0 to 10 (no response or side effect 0, excellent response or unbearable side effects 10). None of the patients had an ischaemic stroke or a heart attack. One patient reported prolonged neurological symptoms, related to a single dose of rizatriptan, but there were no pathological findings in several MRI-scans. Triptans seem to be safe and effective treatment for most hemiplegic migraine patients.
