Menopause and its impact on the effectiveness of fremanezumab for migraine prophylaxis: post-hoc analysis of a prospective, real-world Greek registry.

Objective: This post-hoc analysis of data extracted from a prospective study aimed to explore for the first time if the efficacy of fremanezumab in preventing difficult-to-treat migraine, according to ICHD-III, would differ between pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women.

Methods: A total of 171 (aged 18-70 years) fremanezumab-treated female migraine patients for six consecutive months were classified to those at pre-menopausal ( = 82) or post-menopausal ( = 89). Monthly headache days (MHD), disability, and quality of life (QOL) outcomes were assessed at baseline and at week 24 post-fremanezumab within subgroups and were then compared between them.

Effects of OnabotulinumtoxinA on Allodynia and Interictal Burden of Patients with Chronic Migraine.

Background: We primarily aimed to ascertain whether treatment with OnabotulinumtoxinA (BoNTA) might influence the extent of the interictal burden and cutaneous allodynia in patients with chronic migraine (CM).

Methods: Seventy CM patients, who received three consecutive cycles of BoNTA, were studied. The interictal burden was assessed with the Migraine Interictal Burden Scale (MIBS-4), while cutaneous allodynia was examined with the Allodynia Symptom Checklist (ASC-12) together with PI-NRS VAS to obtain hair brushing scores, and then these were compared from baseline (T0) to the last efficacy evaluation follow-up (T1).

Incidence and risk factors for developing chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain in 500 cancer patients: A file-based observational study.

Objective: To define the incidence and risk factors for developing chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain (CINP).

Methods: Retrospective, file-based analysis on cancer patients who received any type of conventional chemotherapy and for whom neurological evaluation was asked to reveal the extent of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (CIPN) with or without CINP. CINP was assessed by means of the PI-NRS and Douleur Neuropathique-4 questionnaire.

Nine-Month Continuous Fremanezumab Prophylaxis on the Response to Triptans and Also on the Incidence of Triggers, Hypersensitivity and Prodromal Symptoms of Patients with High-Frequency Episodic Migraine.

To investigate whether the incidence of triggers, prodromal symptoms, hypersensitivity symptoms accompanying headache and responses to triptans were modified during a continuous 9-month fremanezumab therapy for migraine prophylaxis. We studied 63 patients with high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM). Enrolled patients received fremanezumab for nine consecutive months before defining the response rates and being stratified into treatment responders (≥50-74% reduction in monthly headache days (MHDs)), super responders (≥75%), partial non-responders (<50%) and super non-responders (<30%).

Effects of Fremanezumab on Psychiatric Comorbidities in Difficult-to-Treat Patients with Chronic Migraine: Post Hoc Analysis of a Prospective, Multicenter, Real-World Greek Registry.

Objective: this post hoc analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of fremanezumab in difficult-to-treat chronic migraine (CM) patients with and without psychiatric comorbidities (PCs), mainly anxiety and/or depression.

Methods: We assessed data from CM patients with and without PCs who failed at least 3 preventives and eventually received at least 3 consecutive monthly doses of fremanezumab 225 mg. Outcomes included the crude response (≥50% reduction in monthly headache days (MHDs)) rates to fremanezumab from the baseline to the last clinical follow-up.

Predictors of Response to Fremanezumab in Migraine Patients with at Least Three Previous Preventive Failures: Post Hoc Analysis of a Prospective, Multicenter, Real-World Greek Registry.

Objective: To define, in a real-world population of patients with high-frequency episodic (HFEM) or chronic migraine (CM), the predictive role of socio-demographic or phenotypic profiling of responders to fremanezumab.

Patients And Methods: Two-hundred and four adult fremanezumab-treated patients with either HFEM or CM, who failed to at least three preventive treatments, provided data at baseline on several individual socio-demographic and phenotypic variables. These variables were analyzed for their ability to independently predict the response (50-74% response rates) or super-response (≥ 75% response rates) to fremanezumab.

Efficacy and safety of fremanezumab for migraine prophylaxis in patients with at least three previous preventive failures: Prospective, multicenter, real-world data from a Greek registry.

Objective: To prospectively assess the efficacy and safety of fremanezumab for migraine prophylaxis in patients with failure of at least three previous preventive treatments. Changes in disability as quality-of-life outcomes after fremanezumab treatment were also examined.

Methods: Two hundred and four patients with either high-frequency EM (HFEM) or chronic migraine (CM), who attained at least three consecutive monthly sessions with fremanezumab 225 mg and otherwise met the inclusion criteria, were included in the study.

Open Label Prospective Experience of Supplementation with a Fixed Combination of Magnesium, Vitamin B2, Feverfew, Andrographis Paniculata and Coenzyme Q10 for Episodic Migraine Prophylaxis.

Background: To investigate the efficacy and safety of supplementation with a fixed combination of magnesium, vitamin B2, feverfew, andrographis paniculata and coenzyme Q10 in episodic migraine (EM) prevention.

Methods: A pilot, single-arm, open-label study was conducted. After a one-month baseline period, the above-described supplementation was introduced in 113 EM Greek patients, who were prospectively followed-up for three months.

Oxaliplatin rechallenge in metastatic colorectal cancer patients with clinically significant oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neurotoxicity.

We investigated whether rechallenge with oxaliplatin (OXA) can worsen the pre-existing oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (OXAIPN) in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. Patients previously treated with OXA, having clinically significant grade 1 or 2 OXAIPN were assessed, after receiving rechallenge with OXA, using the clinical version of the Total Neuropathy Score (TNSc). Peripheral neuropathy was assessed at the end of first OXA exposure and at completion of OXA rechallenge.

Recently available and emerging therapeutic strategies for the acute and prophylactic management of cluster headache: a systematic review and expert opinion.

: Although it causes a huge burden to sufferers, cluster headache (CH), remains an undertreated condition, partly due to the absence of established acute and prophylactic treatment options. New therapeutic approaches providing fast and safe relief from CH are needed. : A systematic review was conducted, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendation on recently published (last 5 years) papers on CH treatment.

Pneumococcal Otogenic Meningitis Complicated With Pneumocephalus and Coma State.

We herein describe the unusual case of a male patient with pneumococcal otogenic meningitis, which was complicated with non-traumatic pneumocephalus and coma, in the absence of head trauma or a neurosurgical procedure. The initiation of an aggressive, empirical scheme with wide-spectrum antibiotics was achieved to stop the progression of meningitis, pneumocephalus, and their underlying causes in this patient. We propose pathogenetic mechanisms to explain this life-threatening condition.

Real world, open label experience with lacosamide against acute painful oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neurotoxicity.

We report the outcome of a pilot, open-label study that tested the potential of lacosamide (200 mg/bi.d) as an effective and safe symptomatic treatment against acute painful oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (OXAIPN). Lacosamide was introduced in 18 colorectal cancer patients with evidence of clinically significant acute, painful OXAIPN after infusion of the third course (T1) of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy (FOLFOX4) and was maintained until completion of all 12 courses (T4).

Irreversible diffuse hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, secondary to type I Kounis syndrome.

We herein describe the unusual case of irreversible diffuse hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy secondary to type I Kounis syndrome. The patient survived and remained in a vegetative state after being mechanically ventilated in the intensive care unit for long. A brief review of the literature on mechanisms for KS-associated brain injury is also presented.

Assessing risk factors of falls in cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity.

Aim: To identify the risk factors of falls in a well-characterized cohort of cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (CIPN).

Patients And Methods: We studied 122 cancer patients experiencing any grade of CIPN, following completion of different chemotherapeutic regimens for various non-hematological malignancies. The results of the clinical examination were summarized by means of the Total Neuropathy Score-clinical version (TNSc®).

Fatal, paraparetic acute motor axonal neuropathy, early complicating chemotherapy with nab-paclitaxel.

So far, very few cases describing an interrelation between chemotherapy and Guillain-Barré syndrome have been published. We describe the first case of a paraparetic, pure acute motor axonal neuropathy variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome, early complicating protein-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel/abraxane) chemotherapy (first and sole session at a 350 mg dose) in a female patient with metastatic breast cancer. Although our patient was treated with the standard regimen of intravenous immunoglobulin for 5 days, she showed no evidence of motor improvement and died 1 month after the onset of the neurological deficit.