title: Triptans and chest symptoms: the role of pulmonary vasoconstriction.
abstract: Triptans are effective and well tolerated in the treatment of acute migraine. Chest symptoms are a common adverse effect unrelated to coronary vasoconstriction in most patients. Although the aetiology of chest symptoms remains to be fully defined, pulmonary vasoconstriction is a possible underlying mechanism. Pre-clinical studies of isolated human blood vessels were used to identify the cerebral selectivity of triptans and ascertain if selectivity vs the pulmonary vasculature predicts a lower rate of chest symptoms. Controlled clinical trials and post-marketing surveillance studies were reviewed to document the incidence of chest symptoms after triptan therapy. In clinical trials, the incidence of chest symptoms at usual therapeutic doses ranged from 1 to 4% depending on the triptan and study design, whereas in post-marketing surveillance studies, up to 41% of patients specifically asked about chest symptoms reported them. A comparative clinical trial showed that almotriptan was associated with lower incidence of chest symptoms than sumatriptan (0.3 vs 2.2%). The intrinsic activity of almotriptan, a second-generation triptan, on human pulmonary arteries and veins was lower than that of sumatriptan. Pre-clinical studies of isolated pulmonary blood vessels may predict the clinical likelihood of chest symptoms; however, additional comparisons are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA. dodick.david@mayo.edu
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Dodick
mesh_terms: D002637:Chest Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects*; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000187:drug effects*; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents