Background. - Olanzapine, a thienobenzodiazepine, is a new "atypical" antipsychotic drug. Olanzapine's pharmacologic properties suggest it would be effective for headaches, and its propensity for inducing acute extrapyramidal reactions or tardive dyskinesia is relatively low. We thus decided to assess the value of olanzapine in the treatment of chronic refractory headache. Methods. - We reviewed the records of 50 patients with refractory headache who were treated with olanzapine for at least 3 months. All previously had failed treatment with at least four preventative medications. The daily dose of olanzapine varied from 2.5 to 35 mg; most patients (n = 19) received 5 mg or 10 mg (n = 17) a day. Results. - Treatment resulted in a statistically significant decrease in headache days relative to baseline, from 27.5 +/- 4.9 before treatment to 21.1+/-10.7 after treatment (P
CITATION STYLE
S.D., S., M.F.P., P., M.M., H., A.L., S., W.B., Y., & T.D., R. (2002). Olanzapine in the treatment of refractory migraine and chronic daily headache. Headache. S.D. Silberstein, Jefferson Headache Center, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Gibbon Building, 111 South Eleventh Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States: Blackwell Publishing Inc. Retrieved from http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&PAGE=reference&D=emed5&NEWS=N&AN=2003339062
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