Abstract

RUEDA-SANCHEZ, Mauricio. Prodromic symptoms in migraine. Acta Neurol Colomb. [online]. 2010, vol.26, n.1, pp.5-10. ISSN 0120-8748.

SUMMARY Introduction. Prodromic symptoms can offer a therapeutic opportunity to the patients with migraine. Objectives: to determine clinical characteristics of prodromic symptoms and to compare the differences between migraine with and without aura and chronic migraine in an Colombian university population. Materials and Methods. We make a cross sectional study by means of a semi-structured, validated in Spanish interview designed to identify primary headaches among university students. The students answered a diagnostic questionnaire of migraine; who were detected with migraine then were interviewed face to face bya a neurologist by a semi structured interview. Results. 141 patients were interviewed with migraine. 29.8% patients with migraine had prodromic symptoms with varied characteristic and a median duration of 30 minutes. The time of maximum intensity of migraine is also variable with a median of 13.5 minutes. 24.1% of the patients refer a maximum intensity of the headache from the beginning. There were not differences in the frequency and duration of prodromic symptoms, or time of maximum intensity of the pain among patients with migraine with aura, migraine without aura or chronic migraine. Conclusions. The medication used to prevent a migraine attack during the prodromic phase are only usable in the third part of the patients with migraine and they shoud act before 30 minutes. These finds limit the clinical utility of the prodromic symptoms and the therapeutic options to use during the prodrome of the migraine attack.

Keywords : Migraine; migraine with aura; migraine without aura; headache; prodrome; diagnosis; neurologic symptoms.

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