Consensus of the Brazilian Headache Society on the treatment of chronic migraine.

Chronic migraine poses a significant personal, social and economic burden and is characterized by headache present on 15 or more days per month for at least three months, with at least eight days of migrainous headache per month. It is frequently associated with analgesic or acute migraine medication overuse and this should not be overlooked. The present consensus was elaborated upon by a group of members of the Brazilian Headache Society in order to describe current evidence and to provide recommendations related to chronic migraine pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatment.

Recommendations for the treatment of migraine attacks - a Brazilian consensus.

In this article, a group of experts in headache management of the Brazilian Headache Society developed through a consensus strategic measurements to treat a migraine attack in both the child and the adult. Particular emphasis was laid on the treatment of migraine in women, including at pregnancy, lactation and perimenstrual period.

Headache during gestation: evaluation of 1101 women.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presence of headache in women with a previous history or new-onset headache during the current gestation, classify the findings, and describe the clinical characteristics and outcome of the headache.

Methods: From January/1998 to June/2002 we prospectively evaluated 1101 pregnant women (12-45 years old), with a history of headache, at two prenatal clinics and an inpatient obstetric public hospital. Women were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire during the first, second, and third gestation trimesters and immediately after delivery.

Headaches during pregnancy in women with a prior history of menstrual headaches.

Objective: To evaluate the presence of menstrual headaches prior to pregnancy according to the International Headache Society (IHS) classification criteria, 2004, and also study the outcome (frequency and intensity) of these pre-existing headaches during the gestational trimesters.

Method: This study involved 1,101 pregnant women (12 to 45 years old). A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview the women during the first, second and third gestational trimesters as well as after delivery.

Intelligence functions disorders in patients with complex partial epilepsy.

Objectives: To compare the performance of patients with complex partial epilepsy with the normal controls in the subtests of an instrument used to assess intelligence function.

Method: Fifty epileptic patients, whose ages ranged from 19 to 49 years and 20 normal controls without any neuropsychiatric disorders. The Wechsler-Bellevue adult intelligence test was applied in groups, epileptic patients and control subjects.

Vasopressin serum levels in patients with severe brain lesions and in brain-dead patients.

Introduction: Patients with severe brain lesions (SBL) and brain-dead patients (BD) frequently present with vasopressin (AVP) secretion disorders.

Objective: To evaluate AVP serum levels in SBL and BD patients.

Design: Prospective, open label, observational trial.

Attentional disorders in patients with complex partial epilepsy.

Unlabelled: A study of concentrated attention patterns in epileptic patients was conducted with the objectives: characterization of the patients' epileptic condition; assessment of the concentrated attention levels in epileptic and nonepileptic individuals; comparison of the attention levels of the two groups. An evaluation was performed of 50 adult outpatients with complex partial seizures and 20 non-epileptic individuals (comparative group) at the Neuroepilepsy Ambulatory Unit, State University of Campinas SP, Brazil.

Method: characterization of seizure types, frequency and duration; concentrated attention assessment (Concentrated Attention Test - Toulouse-Pi ron); comparison of the epileptic with non-epileptic individuals.