Triptans and ergot alkaloids in the acute treatment of migraine: similarities and differences

摘要

Up to 20 years ago, ergotamine and dihydroergotamine (DHE) were die only specific antimigraine drugs [i]. Then subcutaneous sumatriptan 6 mg was introduced in 1991 [2,3], and subsequendy sumatriptan tablets (50-100 mg) and six other triptans, naratriptan, zolmitriptan, rizatriptan, almotriptan, eletriptan and frovatriptan were introduced [3,4]. This introduction of triptans was a major breakthrough in migraine therapy. The view expressed in 2013 in the vignette on the relative efficacy of triptans and ergot alkaloids ("Ergot alkaloids [ergotamine, dihydroergotamine] are used in patients with frequent, moderate migraine, but are less effective than triptans." [5]) is probably common among headache experts.