Biomedical subjects

Michel Ferrari

Publications and source records attributed to Michel Ferrari.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Predicting the response to sumatriptan: the Sumatriptan Naratriptan Aggregate Patient Database.

OBJECTIVE: The efficacy and tolerability profiles of sumatriptan and other 5HT(1B/1D) agonists (triptans) have been well established. However, the determinants for optimal response to sumatriptan are unknown. The Sumatriptan Naratriptan Aggregate Patient (SNAP) database contains data from 128 clinical trials including 28,407 migraine sufferers treating over 130,000 attacks. The authors analyzed these data to identify factors predicting response (headache relief and pain-free response) to sumatriptan. METHODS: The authors assessed 24 possible univariate predictors of headache response in 3,706 patients (18 years and older) receiving sumatriptan tablets 100 mg or placebo in a double-blind study using recursive partitioning and logistic regression techniques. RESULTS: The authors found seven predictors of headache relief 2 hours postdose. Moderate pain at baseline was the strongest predictor (adjusted p = 3.32 x 10(-35)), followed by absence of a disability requiring bedrest (adjusted p = 3.11 x 10(-18)). Other predictors included absence at baseline of vomiting, pulsating pain, nausea, or photophobia/phonophobia, and onset of headache during daytime hours. Logistic regression confirmed that treatment with sumatriptan was the strongest predictor of headache relief, with significant baseline covariates being pain severity, level of disability, and presence or absence of vomiting. A similar pattern of results was reported for predictors of pain-free response 2 hours after taking sumatriptan. CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment pain severity is the most important predicting factor for response to sumatriptan in migraine attacks: the lower baseline severity, the better.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Migraine genetics.

The genetics of migraine is a fascinating and moving research area. Familial hemiplegic migraine, a rare subtype of migraine with a Mendelian pattern of inheritance, is caused by mutations in the chromosome 19 CACNA1A gene in approximately 75% of the families. The finding of mutations in an ionchannel subunit defines migraine as a channelopathy (eg, epilepsy). The genetics of the more frequent variants, migraine with and without aura, is more complex. Several loci have been studied in families and case-control studies, but need to be confirmed.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Mutation analysis of the CACNA1A calcium channel subunit gene in 27 patients with sporadic hemiplegic migraine.

BACKGROUND: Familial hemiplegic migraine is a rare autosomal dominant subtype of migraine with aura that in half of the families is caused by mutations in the CACNA1A gene on chromosome 19p13. In sporadic hemiplegic migraine (SHM), that is, hemiplegic migraine without affected family members, the contribution of the CACNA1A gene is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the involvement of the CACNA1A calcium channel subunit gene in SHM. METHODS: We screened 27 patients with SHM for mutations in the CACNA1A gene by a combination of single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis and sequence analysis. RESULTS: One patient with SHM also had ataxia, nystagmus, and cerebellar atrophy on computed tomography and carried a T666M mutation. Another patient with SHM who had no cerebellar signs carried an R583Q mutation. No mutations or interictal neurological abnormalities were found in the remaining 25 patients with SHM. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with SHM do not have a CACNA1A mutation. The results of this study, combined with the findings reported in the literature, show that the presence of cerebellar symptoms in addition to the hemiplegic attacks increases the chance of finding a CACNA1A mutation. In addition, to our knowledge, we have found a first patient with SHM without cerebellar signs with a mutation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Influence of Expertise on the Intentional Transfer of Motor Skill.

Intentional transfer of expert knowledge is an important issue in cognitive science and motor skills. How subjects deliberately transfer expertise in karate when learning a closely related motor skill (tai chi) was examined in this study. Subjects (N = 20) learned a videotaped sequence of self-defense movements, evaluated their learning, and then performed the sequence. Self-regulation of learning is believed to be central to effective transfer. The measures of self-regulation were accuracy of self-evaluation, video use, and approach to learning. Results showed that unlike novices, experts used self-regulation, learning strategies, and the video player in more complex ways in self-regulation. Experts, as compared with novices, demonstrated their greater knowledge through the higher quality of their performance and their better comprehension of movement meaning; but both groups recalled an equal number of moments, suggesting that both experts and novices transferred general knowledge about learning.

Journal Article↗