Ramosetron as a Treatment for Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome: A Small-Scale Patient Trial

摘要

Cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS), a disorder involving recurrent episodes of nausea, vomiting, and lethargy, is observed most frequently in children, and occasionally in teenagers or adults. Episodes may occur regularly, randomly, or as a result of triggering factors such as emotional excitement or infections. CVS is classified within migraine subgroup 1.6 (“Episodic syndromes that may be associated with migraine”) in the Third Edition of the International Headache Classification (ICHD-3).1 Sumatriptan, a serotonin 1B/1D receptor agonist, was reportedly effective in acute treatment of migraine, and of some (but not all) CVS cases.2-5 Ondansetron, a serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, has been suggested as a therapeutic agent for CVS treatment,6-8 but there has been no clinical trial of its efficacy. Ramosetron, another selective serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonist,9-11 has been applied clinically for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in Japan.12,13 Typical IBS symptoms (abdominal pain and/or diarrhea) are often observed in CVS cases. In this small-scale patient trial, we examined the effects of ramosetron applied for CVS treatment.