title: Ergotamine in the acute treatment of migraine: a review and European consensus.
abstract: Ergotamine has been used in clinical practice for the acute treatment of migraine for over 50 years, but there has been little agreement on its place in clinical practice. An expert group from Europe reviewed the pre-clinical and clinical data on ergotamine as it relates to the treatment of migraine. From this review, specific suggestions for the patient groups and appropriate use of ergotamine have been agreed. In essence, ergotamine, from a medical perspective, is the drug of choice in a limited number of migraine sufferers who have infrequent or long duration headaches and are likely to comply with dosing restrictions. For most migraine sufferers requiring a specific anti-migraine treatment, a triptan is generally a better option from both an efficacy and side-effect perspective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Glostrup Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. The
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tfelt-Hansen
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dahlöf
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pascual
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Láinez
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Diener
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schoenen
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Goadsby
mesh_terms: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004878:Ergotamine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D004878:Ergotamine