Pascual J, Navarro A, Caminero A B, Jurado C, Díaz-Insa S, Huerta M
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario de Salamanca.
Neurologia. 2006 May;21(4):188-91.
To analyze our experience with the new, 5 mg intranasal formulation of zolmitriptan in the symptomatic treatment of migraine attacks.
This series includes 82 patients who had treated an average of 7 migraine attacks. Eighty patients had taken oral triptans and 20 subcutaneous sumatriptan. The main reasons for using nasal zolmitriptan were: poor efficacy of oral triptans (41.5 % of the patients), use of subcutaneous sumatriptan (24.4%) or medical criteria (34.5%).
Among the 80 patients who had been treated with oral triptans, 50 (62.5 %) preferred nasal zolmitriptan, 14 (17.5 %) oral triptans and the remaining 16 (20 %) did not express any preference. The main reasons for this preference were shorter speed of action and better efficacy. Within those 20 patients who were using subcutaneous sumatriptan, 8 (40 %) preferred subcutaneous sumatriptan, 5 (25%) nasal zolmitriptan and 7 (35%) did not express any preference. The reasons for preference of intranasal zolmitriptan over subcutaneous sumatriptan were greater convenience, better tolerability and lower price. A total of 55 patients noticed efficacy within 60 min. Half experienced at least one adverse event, always mild. The most frequent were local: bad taste (n=23) or nasal irritation/itching (n=8).
The new intranasal formulation of 5 mg zolmitriptan is a good option for the symptomatic treatment of migraine, which could be considered as an intermediate between oral triptans and the subcutaneous formulation of sumatriptan.
