Biomedical subjects

S Przywara

Publications and source records attributed to S Przywara.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Features of medication overuse headache following overuse of different acute headache drugs.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate pharmacologic features such as mean critical duration until onset of medication-overuse headache (MOH) (MCDO), mean critical monthly intake frequencies (MCMIF), and mean critical monthly dosages (MCMD) as well as specific clinical features of MOH after overuse of different acute headache drugs, with a focus on newly approved triptans. METHODS: In a prospective study 98 patients with MOH according to International Headache Society (IHS) criteria underwent standardized inpatient withdrawal from their medication. Patient diaries and structured interviews were used to calculate the MCDO, MCMIF, and MCMD for each substance group. RESULTS: The MCDO was shortest for triptans (1.7 years), longer for ergots (2.7 years), and longest for analgesics (4.8 years). The MCMIF was lowest for triptans (18 single doses per month), higher for ergots (37), and highest for analgesics (114). Although patients overusing ergots and analgesics typically had a daily tension-type headache, patients with triptan-induced MOH were more likely to describe a (daily) migraine-like headache or an increase in migraine frequency. CONCLUSION: Overuse of triptans leads to MOH faster and with lower dosages compared with ergots and analgesics. Clinical features of MOH depend on the type of overused headache medication. Pharmacologic and clinical characteristics of triptan-induced MOH call for the renewal of the current IHS classification.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2002

Acute migraine headache: possible sensitization of neurons in the spinal trigeminal nucleus?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate trigeminal sensory processing in patients with migraine using a novel "nociception-specific" blink reflex. METHODS: Seventeen patients with unilateral migraine headache were studied within 6 hours of onset. Blink reflexes were elicited with a standard stimulating electrode (standard blink reflex) and concentric stimulating electrode (nociception-specific blink reflex) during the acute migraine attack, after treatment with IV lysine acetylsalicylate (1,000 mg) or oral zolmitriptan (5 mg) and interictally. RESULTS: After standard stimulation, no differences were detected for the R1 and R2 onset latencies and areas under the curve (AUC) between the different time points and the headache and nonheadache side. Nociception-specific stimulation revealed a shortening of R2 onset latencies (44.3 +/- 5.4 ms for headache side vs 48.9 +/- 5.8 ms for nonheadache side) during the acute migraine attack compared with the headache-free interval (49.8 +/- 5.3 vs 49.8 +/- 4.5 ms). The AUC of the R2 increased on the headache side by 680% and on the nonheadache side by 230% compared with the headache-free interval. Drug treatment parallel to pain relief increased the onset latencies (zolmitriptan: 48.0 +/- 8.2 ms for headache side vs 52.3 +/- 7.6 ms for nonheadache side; lysine acetylsalicylate: 48.0 +/- 5.0 ms for headache side vs 51.2 +/- 5.6 ms for nonheadache side) and reduced the AUC of R2 (zolmitriptan by 45% and lysine acetylsalicylate by 48%). CONCLUSION: The data suggest temporary sensitization of central trigeminal neurons during acute migraine attacks.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2001

Long-term stabilization in patients with malignant glioma after treatment with liposomal doxorubicin.

BACKGROUND: Resistance to chemotherapeutic agents and poor blood-brain barrier penetration are major limitations in the treatment of malignant glioma. To improve drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier, the authors used doxorubicin as liposomal encapsulated formulation (Caelyx, Scheringh-Plough, Munich, Germany) in therapy of recurrent malignant glioma. METHODS: Fifteen patients with recurrent high-grade gliomas were included in the study. Of these, 13 patients could be evaluated, including 6 patients with glioblastoma, 1 patient with gliosarcoma and 6 patients with anaplastic astrocytoma. The treatment consisted of liposomal doxorubicin (20 mg/m(2)), applied intravenously every 2 weeks. RESULTS: Stabilization of the disease was observed in 54% (7 of 13) of patients. Partial response and complete response (CR) were not observed. Median time-to-progression was 11 weeks. Progression free survival at 12 months was 15%. Median overall survival (OS) after doxorubicin therapy was 40.0 weeks, whereas the median OS after diagnosis reached 20.0 months (87.0 weeks). Doxorubicin was well tolerated, with main side effects being palmoplantar erythrodysesthesia occurring in 38% and myelotoxicity (World Health Organization Grade 3-4) in 31% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Doxorubicin has been shown to be a safe treatment with moderate activity that may lead to long-term stabilization in recurrent high-grade glioma patients. Of note, median OS after all and after initiation of recurrence therapy was prolonged in comparison with the OS in other Phase II studies, as recently described by Wong et al. (Wong ET, Hess KR, Gleason MJ, Jaeckle KA, Kyritsis AP, Prados MD, et al. Outcomes and prognostic factors in recurrent glioma patients enrolled onto phase II clinical trials. J Clin Oncol 1999;17:2572.).

Adult↗

PubMed2001

[Emergencies in general practice, 1. Headache as an alarm symptom].

Primary headache, such as migraine and tension type headache is a common symptom in patients presenting in emergency departments. Suspicious of secondary headache is a medical history of new onset, changing character of a previously known headache, resistancy to medication or symptoms which are not typical of primary headache.

Brain Diseases↗

PubMed1986