Laura Buratti

Background: Drug addiction may play an important role in chronic migraine (CM) with medication-overuse headache (MOH). Psychiatric diseases are associated with CM, but data regarding obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are lacking. We aimed to establish the prevalence of OCD traits in CM patients with MOH and the impact on onabotulinum toxin A (OBT-A) treatment. Methods: A total of 75 patients with CM and MOH undergoing treatment with OBT-A in our Headache Centre were evaluated. At baseline and after four injection sessions, we assessed the migraine burden and the presence of OCD traits with the Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory—Revised (OCI-R) test. Results: At baseline, 28% of patients had OCI-R scores compatible with borderline OCD aspects, while 22.7% were pathological. An improvement in headache was significantly associated with an increase in the number of subjects with a normal OCI-R score at T0 and T1, whereas patients with a pathological OCI-R score at T0 showed a significantly higher prevalence of CM at T1. Conclusions: Our data showed a significant rate of OCD traits at baseline, which could strengthen the hypothesis of an addictive disorder underlying CM with MOH. OCD traits seem to influence the OBT-A response. An OCD assessment could be useful in improving patients’ selections before starting treatments.

Article: Polygraphy: a useful tool to discover undetected atrial fibrillation - Minerva Medica 2021 December;112(6):818 - Minerva Medica - Journals

Purpose Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most prevalent sleep-related breathing disorder, with a negative impact on cardiovascular health. Different OSA symptoms and treatment response in males and females have been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate inflammatory markers in patients with OSA and the relationship of those markers to disease severity in male and female subjects. Methods We considered consecutive subjects referred to the outpatient Sleep Disorder Service of the Respiratory Medicine Department, San Marino Hospital. We included patients with a diagnosis of moderate or severe OSAS and an age range of 45–80 years. Concomitant inflammatory conditions were an exclusion criterion. A polygraphic study and a blood draw for inflammatory markers were performed for each subject. Results Of 110 subjects, 59 were males. Severe OSA affected 72 subjects. We analyzed data through a 4-level categorical variable according to sex and OSA severity (moderate OSA, males; severe OSA, males; moderate OSA, females; severe OSA, females), which showed significant differences for interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. A significant difference in IL-6 levels with a significant ascending trend (p = 0.045) from females with moderate OSAS to males with severe OSAS emerged in our pairwise comparison for estimated marginal means. Also, a significant trend (p = 0.0001) for CRP levels from males with moderate OSAS to females with severe OSAS was shown. Conclusions OSA and inflammation are interconnected, and both are associated with vascular diseases. Sex-related differences in OSA phenotypes may help the clinicians aim for a more personalized approach.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a risk factor for cerebrovascular diseases and vascular dementia (VAD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the adherence to anticoagulant therapy guidelines in patients with dementia and AF on the risk of stroke/TIA or major bleeding (MB). Methods: In a cohort of 1705 hospitalized patients with pre-existent AF, we observed 193 patients with vascular dementia (VAD). Non-demented AF patients were included as controls. For each subject, we calculated CHA₂DS₂-VASc, CHADS₂, and HAS-BLED scores, and collected information regarding anticoagulant therapy, in-hospital therapeutic failure (TF) occurrence, stroke/TIA, and MB. Results: According to CHA₂DS₂-VASc and CHADS₂ scores, 99.5% of VAD patients had the indication to anticoagulant treatment, but only 69.9% were correctly treated. During hospitalization, MB occurred in 4.66% of VAD and 8.9% of non-demented patients (p = 0.048). In-hospital stroke/TIA were observed in 24.3% of VAD and 0.8% of non-demented patients (p = 0.0001). A similar proportion of TF among patients with VAD and with normal cognition (12.9% vs. 11.2%) was observed. Conclusion: In our cohort, we observed that VAD patients with pre-existent AF were undertreated despite a higher risk of stroke/TIA with respect to non-demented patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate chronotype in migraine patients and possible influences on the clinical expression of the disease.

Migraine is an economically and socially relevant pathology but patients’ consciousness and consequently a proper management is often unsatisfactory. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the disease awareness, the general approach and the impact on working activity in a population of headache-affected hospital workers. During an 18-month period, hospital workers responded to a questionnaire investigating headache presence, characteristics and awareness. Specific attention was paid to define headache impact on working activities. 1774 consecutive subjects were enrolled. Headache was documented in 45.7% of the sample, migraine in 16.6%. 40.6% of the patients with headache and 50.7% of the migraneous subjects had a specialist medical evaluation. Triptans use was significantly lower than non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs use. 39.5% of migraneous complained of attacks during working time, 60.2% acknowledged a negative influence on work quality. 25.5% of migraneous patients reported a loss of working days attributable to the disease. Migraine is disabling for workers with negative consequences on job capacity and quality. Efforts should be made to improve disease awareness to stimulate a better diagnostic and therapeutic approach.