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The Journal of Headache and Pain
Published in: The Journal of Headache and Pain 1/2022

01-12-2022 | Migraine | Research article

Single-Pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the preventive treatment of difficult-to-treat migraine: a 12-month prospective analysis

Authors: J.O. Lloyd, B. Hill, M. Murphy, A. Al-Kaisy, A. P. Andreou, G. Lambru

Published in: The Journal of Headache and Pain | Issue 1/2022

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Abstract

Background

Initial evidence have shown the short-term efficacy of sTMS in the acute and preventive treatment of migraine. It is unknown whether this treatment approach in the long-term is effective and well tolerated in difficult-to-treat migraine.

Methods

This is a prospective, single centre, open-label, real-world analysis conducted in difficult-to-treat patients with high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM) and chronic migraine (CM) with and without medication overuse headache (MOH), who were exposed to sTMS therapy. Patients responding to a three-month sTMS treatment, continued the treatment and were assessed again at month 12. The cut-off outcome for treatment continuation was reduction in the monthly moderate to severe headache days (MHD) of at least 30% (headache frequency responders) and/or a ≥ 4-point reduction in headache disability using the Headache Impact test-6 (HIT-6) (headache disability responders).

Results

One hundred fifty-three patients were included in the analysis (F:M = 126:27, median age 43, IQR 32.3–56.8). At month 3, 93 out of 153 patients (60%) were responders to treatment. Compared to baseline, the median reduction in monthly headache days (MHD) for all patients at month 3 was 5.0 days, from 18.0 (IQR: 12.0–26.0) to 13.0 days (IQR: 5.75–24.0) (P = 0.002, r = − 0.29) and the median reduction in monthly migraine days (MMD) was 4.0 days, from 13.0 (IQR: 8.75–22.0) to 9.0 (IQR: 4.0–15.25) (P = 0.002, r = − 0.29). Sixty-nine out of 153 patients (45%) reported a sustained response to sTMS treatment at month 12. The percentage of patients with MOH was reduced from 52% (N = 79/153) at baseline to 19% (N = 29/153) at month 3, to 8% (N = 7/87) at month 12. There was an overall median 4-point reduction in HIT-6 score, from 66 (IQR: 64–69) at baseline to 62 at month 3 (IQR: 56–65) (P < 0.001, r = − 0.51). A total of 35 mild/moderate adverse events were reported by 23 patients (15%). One patient stopped sTMS treatment due to scalp sensitivity.

Conclusions

This open label analysis suggests that sTMS may be an effective, well-tolerated treatment option for the long-term prevention of difficult-to-treat CM and HFEM.
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Metadata
Title
Single-Pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the preventive treatment of difficult-to-treat migraine: a 12-month prospective analysis
Authors
J.O. Lloyd
B. Hill
M. Murphy
A. Al-Kaisy
A. P. Andreou
G. Lambru
Publication date
01-12-2022
Publisher
Springer Milan
Published in
The Journal of Headache and Pain / Issue 1/2022
Print ISSN: 1129-2369
Electronic ISSN: 1129-2377
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-022-01428-6

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