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The Need for Effective Treatments for Status Migrainosus: Matthew Robbins, MD
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The neurologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital offered his insight into the hot topics at the American Headache Society Annual Scientific Meeting, including a presentation on the prevalence of status migrainosus. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]
WATCH TIME: 4 minutes
“It’s a total evidence-free zone. Often when these patients come to the emergency room because the headache attack has been so long, that’s perceived as a red flag, and there’s a big focus on diagnosis. These are patients who are often getting CT scans of the head, or MRIs, and there is a wait to treat them until the neurologist arrives.”
Status migrainosus, a condition in which a headache attack lasts 72 hours or longer, has posed significant clinical challenges for physicians and has placed a severe burden on the large population of patients with migraine. Currently, little literature on effective treatment options exists, with many physicians opting for a variety of approaches that are adjusted based on the situation at hand.
At the 2022 American Headache Society (AHS) Annual Scientific Meeting, June 9-11, in Denver, Colorado, new data were presented on the incidence of status migrainosus in Olmsted County, Minnesota, by Juliana H. VanderPluym, MD,1 in a session moderated by Matthew Robbins, MD. The study provided the first population-based perspective on this incidence, noting that it might be inherently more common among individuals with chronic migraine. Overall, the study showed an age- and sex-adjusted incidence rate of 26.60 per 100,000 (95% CI, 23.21-29.97), with a peak incidence occurring between ages 40 and 49 years. These rates were higher in women (46.97 per 100,000; 95% CI, 40.61-53.32) compared with men (6.23 per 100,000; 95% CI, 3.88-8.58).
To find out more about the state of care for status migrainosus, NeurologyLive® inquired with Robbins, a neurologist and associate professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He highlighted the research of VanderPluym et al, and shared his experience with treating the condition, as well as detailed some of the difficulties in providing evidence-based care for patients who experience such debilitating attacks.
Click here for more coverage of AHS 2022.
