Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Educational Lecture 16

Diagnosis and therapies of refractory migraine

Toshihiko Shimizu, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Keio University

It is well known that some migraine patients recognize the change of their migraine characteristics over time. These patients often complain chronic daily headaches instead of episodic attacks of migraine. Such chronic headaches are resistant to medication, and called refractory or intractable migraine. Refractory migraine is a term, which has been used for many years, but until recently, there has been little attention paid to its definition. The criteria used for diagnosis of refractory migraine have varied considerably. In most circumstances, however, the definition has included a poor response to "standard" preventive medications. This review article introduces the proposed criteria for definition of refractory migraine and the therapeutic strategies against refractory migraine.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (238K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 51: 877|880, 2011)
key words: Refractory migraine, migraine, chronic migraine, medication overuse headache

(Received: 20-May-11)