Clinical and Demographical Characteristics of Patients with Medication Overuse Headache in Argentina and Chile: Analysis of the Latin American Section of COMOESTAS Project

The Journal of Headache and Pain

Research Article

Rigmor Jensen¹  Ricardo Fadic²  Beatriz Shand²  Raul Valenzuela²  Giuseppe Nappi³  Cristina Tassorelli⁴  Maria Teresa Goicochea⁵ 

[1] Danish Headache Centre, Glostrup Amtssygehuset, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark;Department of Neurology, Pontificia Universidad Católica of Chile, Santiago, Chile;Headache Science Centre, C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy;Headache Science Centre, C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy;Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy;Integral Pain Centre, Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas Infantiles (FLENI), Buenos Aires, Argentina;

关键词: Medication Overuse Headache (MOH);    Chronic headache;    Ergotamine;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s10194-015-0561-1

 received in 2015-04-14, accepted in 2015-08-01,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundData on the characteristics of Medication Overuse Headache (MOH) in Latin American (LA) are scarce. Here we report the demographic and clinical features of the MOH patients from Argentina and Chile enrolled in the multinational COMOESTAS project in the period 2008–2010.MethodsThe LA population was formed by 240 MOH subjects, 110 from Chile and 130 from Argentina, consecutively attending the local headache centres. In each centre, specifically trained neurologist interviewed and confirmed the diagnosis according to the ICHD-II criteria. A detailed history was collected on an electronic patient record form.ResultsThe mean patient age was 38.6 years, with a female/male ratio of 8:2. The mean time since onset of the primary headache was 21 years, whereas duration of MOH was 3.9 years. The primary headache was migraine without aura in 77.5 % and migraine with aura in 18.8 %. Forty two % of the patients self-reported emotional stress associated with the chronification of headache; 43.8 % reported insomnia. The most overused medications were acute drug combinations containing ergotamine (70 %), NSAIDs (33.8 %) and triptans (5.4 %).ConclusionThough little described, MOH is present also in LA, where it affects mostly women, in the most active decades of life. Some differences emerge as regards the demographic and clinical characteristics of MOH in this population as compared to Europe or Northern America. What seems more worrying about MOH in Argentina and Chile is that most patients overuse ergotamine, a drug that may cause serious adverse events when used chronically. These findings once more underscore the importance of properly diagnose and treat MOH.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Shand et al. 2015