Search

Five years ago we reported the case of three patients affected by basilar-type migraine (BM) responsive to lamotrigine. At that time, proven treatment options for BM are rather limited and lamotrigine has been tested in BM patients because it was a widely tested treatment for migraine with aura. That positive 1-year experience leaded us to suggest that lamotrigine could be a preventive therapeutic option for BM patients, with and without menstruation association. We now report the five-year follow-up of the same patients to confirm and underlie the possible role of lamotrigine to induce BM attacks remission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a well-known disease characterized by psoriasis and inflammatory joint disease, with distinct clinical and radiological features to differentiate it from other arthropathies. Whereas many cases of coexistence of arthritis and other autoimmune disorders with chromosomal abnormalities have been reported, the occurrence of PsA and Klinefelter syndrome has not been reported previously. A case of Klinefelter syndrome and PsA was reported. This case report emphasizes the role played by sex hormones and chromosomal abnormalities in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorder, and to our knowledge, this is an uncommon case of a patient with Klinefelter syndrome who developed PsA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to look for early clinical markers of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). As headache represents the major clinical manifestation at presentation we focused our attention on this symptom. We present the preliminary results of a prospective multicentric study that includes cases diagnosed as CVT in the participating centres. We have so far studied 35 patients (5 males and 30 females) from the ages of 18 to 78. The most frequent manifestation was headache (77.1%). It was more frequently localised (66.7%) and continuous (77.8%). The onset of pain was mostly acute-subacute (38.5%-50.0%) and the intensity moderate-severe (37.0%-51.9%). On univariate analysis, we found a positive correlation between CVT, acute headache onset (p=0.001) and severe headache (p=0.004). These preliminary results seem in accordance with our previous findings in the retrospective study, suggesting that CVT is more often associated with acute-onset headache of severe intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migraine is a chronic disorder with complex pathophysiology involving both neuronal and vascular mechanisms. Migraine is associated with an increased risk of vascular disorders, such as stroke and coronary heart disease. Obesity and diabetes are metabolic disorders with a complex association with migraine. Insulin resistance, which represents the main causal factor of diseases involved in metabolic syndrome, is more common in patients with migraine. A better understanding of the relationship between metabolic syndrome and migraine may be of great clinical interest for migraine management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on recent data about the association between restless legs syndrome (RLS) and migraine, we performed an observational study on the occurrence of RLS in patients affected by "pure" migraine with aura (pMA). We recruited 63 patients (33 females and 30 males) affected by MA without other types of primary headache among all patients referred in five Italian headache centers in a 1-year period. The prevalence of RLS in pMA patients (9.5%) is similar to that observed in Italian headache-free subjects (8.3%). No significant differences were found between pMA patients with and without RLS about clinical features of MA attacks and systemic and psychiatric diseases were investigated. Moreover, no association appeared between RLS and familial cases of MA. Differently from migraine without aura, our data do not confirm the existence of an association between RLS and MA, not even when a genetic factor is involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basilar-type migraine (BM) has been recognised in the revised International Classification of Headache Disorders as a distinct clinical entity (subtype of migraine with aura), characterised by disturbing migraine aura clearly originating from the brainstem or from both hemispheres simultaneously affected. It differs from familial and sporadic hemiplegic migraines by the absence of motor deficit. Lamotrigine has been shown to be effective in preventing migraine aura symptoms in typical aura and in some cases of BM. We tried lamotrigine in three female cases of BM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIDA Cefalee is a database for the management of headache patients developed on behalf of the Italian Neurological Association for Headache Research (ANIRCEF). The system integrates a diagnostic expert system able to suggest the correct ICHD-II diagnosis once all clinical characteristics of a patient's headache have been collected. The software has undergone a multicentre validation study to assess: its diagnostic accuracy; the impact of using the software on visit duration; the userfriendliness degree of the software interface; and patients' acceptability of computer-assisted interview. Five Italian headache centres participated in the study. The results of this study validate AIDA Cefalee as a reliable diagnostic tool for primary headaches that can improve diagnostic accuracy with respect to the standard clinical method without increasing the time length of visits even when used by operators with basic computer experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]