title: A double-blind, randomized, multicenter, Italian study of frovatriptan versus almotriptan for the acute treatment of migraine.
abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate patients' satisfaction with acute treatment of migraine with frovatriptan or almotriptan by preference questionnaire. One hundred and thirty three subjects with a history of migraine with or without aura (IHS 2004 criteria), with at least one migraine attack in the preceding 6 months, were enrolled and randomized to frovatriptan 2.5 mg or almotriptan 12.5 mg, treating 1-3 attacks. The study had a multicenter, randomized, double blind, cross-over design, with treatment periods lasting <3 months. At study end patients assigned preference to one of the treatments using a questionnaire with a score from 0 to 5 (primary endpoint). Secondary endpoints were pain free and pain relief episodes at 2 and 4 h, and recurrent and sustained pain free episodes within 48 h. Of the 133 patients (86%, intention-to-treat population) 114 of them expressed a preference for a triptan. The average preference score was not significantly different between frovatriptan (3.1 ± 1.3) and almotriptan (3.4 ± 1.3). The rates of pain free (30% frovatriptan vs. 32% almotriptan) and pain relief (54% vs. 56%) episodes at 2 h did not significantly differ between treatments. This was the case also at 4 h (pain free: 56% vs. 59%; pain relief: 75% vs. 72%). Recurrent episodes were significantly (P < 0.05) less frequent under frovatriptan (30% vs. 44%), also for the attacks treated within 30 min. No significant differences were observed in sustained pain free episodes (21% vs. 18%). The tolerability profile was similar between the two drugs. In conclusion, our study suggests that frovatriptan has a similar efficacy of almotriptan in the short-term, while some advantages are observed during long-term treatment.
authors: G. D’Annunzio University, Chieti, Italy.
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Bartolini
authors: Maria Adele
authors: MA
authors: Giamberardino
authors: Carlo
authors: C
authors: Lisotto
authors: Paolo
authors: P
authors: Martelletti
authors: Davide
authors: D
authors: Moscato
authors: Biagio
authors: B
authors: Panascia
authors: Lidia
authors: L
authors: Savi
authors: Luigi Alberto
authors: LA
authors: Pini
authors: Grazia
authors: G
authors: Sances
authors: Patrizia
authors: P
authors: Santoro
authors: Giorgio
authors: G
authors: Zanchin
authors: Stefano
authors: S
authors: Omboni
authors: Michel D
authors: MD
authors: Ferrari
authors: Filippo
authors: F
authors: Brighina
authors: Brigida
authors: B
authors: Fierro
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002227:Carbazoles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020325:Migraine with Aura / Q000188:drug therapy*; D057240:Patient Preference; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014363:Tryptamines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002227:Carbazoles; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D014363:Tryptamines; C409045:almotriptan; C108128:frovatriptan