Headache characteristics are described in 139 patients with chronic daily or almost daily headaches due to regular intake of analgesics and the short- and long-term results of drug withdrawal. Drug-induced headache was described as dull, diffuse, and band-like, and usually started in the early morning. The mean duration of the original headache (migraine or tension headache) was 25 years; regular intake of drugs and chronic daily headache had started 10 and 6 years prior to withdrawal therapy, respectively. Patients took an average of 34.6 tablets or analgesic suppositories or antimigraine drugs per week containing 5.8 different substances. The drugs most often used were caffeine (95%), ergotalkaloids (89%), barbiturates (64%), and spasmolytics, paracetamol, and pyrazolone derivates (45%-46%). A total of 103 patients (68 migraine, 35 tension or combination headache) were available for interviews at a mean time interval of 2.9 years after an inpatient drug withdrawal programme. Chronic headache had disappeared or was reduced by more than 50% in two-thirds of the patients. Positive predictors for successful treatment were migraine as primary headache, chronic headache lasting less than 10 years, and regular intake of ergotamine. Drug intake was significantly reduced and patients used single substances more often. Patients who originally suffered from migraine, superimposed on the daily headache, also experienced a significant improvement in the frequency of the migraines and their intensity. Migraine prophylaxis through beta-blocking agents and calcium channel antagonists was more efficient after drug-withdrawal therapy.

The present study used recordings of visual potentials evoked by pattern reversal (VEPs) to investigate the central effects of three drugs used in migraine prophylaxis: the calcium channel blocker nifedipine, the beta-1-selective blocker metoprolol, and the nonselective beta adrenoreceptor blocker propranolol. The study involved 58 patients with common or classical migraine who were treated in a double-blind randomized study over a period of 7 months, while the effectiveness of prophylactic treatment was recorded in headache diaries that were subjected to time series analysis. VEPs were recorded at the beginning of a 2-month baseline period without treatment, after 4 months of treatment, and at the end of a 3-month washout period. At baseline, migraine patients had significantly higher VEP amplitudes and longer latencies than did a group of 87 healthy control subjects. Patients were separated by statistical analysis into responders and nonresponders to each prophylactic treatment. Nifedipine had no effects on the frequency, intensity, and duration of migraine attacks, nor on amplitude and latency of the VEPs. In contrast, the use of beta blockers resulted in a significant decrease in VEP amplitude, both in responders and nonresponders, whereas VEP latency remained unchanged. VEP amplitudes returned to the initial values at follow-up in the nonresponders, but stayed at lower levels in responders. Beta blockers thus appear to have a significant effect on the increased excitability of the visual system in patients with migraine, although their action is not directly related to their reduction of migraine frequency.

Amitriptyline is the medication of first choice in the treatment of chronic tension-type headache. In 197 patients with chronic tension-type headache (87M and 110F with a mean age of 38 +/- 13 (18-68)) efficacy and tolerability of 60-90 mg amitriptylinoxide (AO) were compared with 50-75 mg amitriptyline (AM) and placebo (PL) in a double-blind, parallel-group trial consisting of a four weeks' baseline phase and 12 weeks of treatment. The primary study endpoint was a reduction of at least 50% of the product of headache duration and frequency and a reduction of at least 50% in headache intensity. Statistics used were Fisher's exact test and analysis of variance. No significant difference emerged between AO, AM and PL with respect to the primary study endpoint. Treatment response occurred in 30.3% of the AO, 22.4% of the AM and 21.9% of the PL group. A reduction in headache duration and frequency of at least 50% was found in 39.4% on AO, in 25.4% on AM and in 26.6% on PL (PAO-PL = .1384, PAM-PL = 1.000, PAO-AM = .0973). A reduction in headache intensity of at least 50% was found in 31.8% on AO, in 26.9% on AM and in 26.6% on PL (PAO-PL = .5657, PAM-PL = 1.000, PAO-AM = .5715). Trend analysis with respect to a significant reduction of headache intensity (p < 0.05) and the product of headache duration and frequency revealed a superior effect of AO.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A total of 13 patients with drug-induced psychosis in Parkinson's disease were treated with two non-classical neuroleptics-clozapine and fluperlapine. Patients mainly complained about severe hallucinatory symptoms and different degrees of paranoid delusions. Complete relief was observed in 8 patients, moderate improvement in 3 and no effects in 2. Parkinsonian disability did not increase under neuroleptic medication with clozapine and fluperlapine, but could be ameliorated by additional L-dopa or bromocriptine medication. The non-classical neuroleptics employed are dopamine D2 blocking agents with a preferential binding to mesolimbic, mesocortical and hippocampal D2 receptors and no substantial binding to striatal dopamine receptors. Restricted use of these two neuroleptics is necessitated because of the danger of agranulocytosis.

(fig 1). Background EMG activity measured during 100 ms prior to platform tilt ranged between 2 and 5% of the size of short latency. We decided to measure EMG integrals from raw EMG records because an earlier study revealed a much higher interindividual variation when we measured EMG integrals in relation to maximal voluntary level of EMG.