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Eletriptan vs sumatriptan

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, multiple migraine attack study

*The Eletriptan Steering Committee and investigators are listed on the Neurology Web site. Go to www.neurology.org to find the title link for this article.
From the University Centre for Adaptive Disorders and Headache (Dr. Sandrini), IRCCSC. Mondino Foundation; Pavia, Italy; the Department of Neurology (Dr. Färkkilä), Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; the Department of Internal Medicine (Dr. Burgess), II Military Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa; and Pfizer Central Research (Dr. Forster and S. Haughie), Sandwich, UK; for the Eletriptan Steering Committee.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Giorgio Sandrini, Associate Professor of Neurological Rehabilitation, Department of Neurological Rehabilitation, Chairman, IRCCS C. Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy, Via Palestro, 3; e-mail: gsandrini{at}unipv.it

Objective: To compare the efficacy of oral eletriptan, 40 mg and 80 mg, and oral sumatriptan, 50 mg and 100 mg, in the acute treatment of migraine.

Methods: Patients with a history of migraine (n = 1,008) were randomly assigned to receive placebo, 40 mg of eletriptan, 80 mg of eletriptan, 50 mg of sumatriptan, or 100 mg of sumatriptan to treat up to three attacks. Early headache response (at 1 hour) was the primary endpoint, in addition to the standard endpoint, 2-hour headache response.

Results: Headache response rates were 12% at 1 hour and 31% at 2 hours for placebo; 24% at 1 hour and 50% at 2 hours for sumatriptan 50 mg; 27% at 1 hour and 53% at 2 hours for sumatriptan 100 mg; 30% at 1 hour and 64% at 2 hours for eletriptan 40 mg; and 37% at 1 hour and 67% at 2 hours for eletriptan 80 mg. More patients receiving eletriptan 80 mg achieved a 1-hour headache response than did patients receiving sumatriptan 50 mg (p < 0.05). All doses of eletriptan were superior to sumatriptan at 2 hours for headache response and complete pain relief (p < 0.05). Significantly more patients on eletriptan 80 mg achieved headache response in all attacks than did patients receiving either sumatriptan dose. Eletriptan 40 mg was superior to both sumatriptan doses in functional improvement (p < 0.005). The superior efficacy of both eletriptan doses was associated with higher rates of patient acceptability than sumatriptan 50 mg (p < 0.05). Eletriptan and sumatriptan were well tolerated.

Conclusion: Oral eletriptan (40 mg and 80 mg) is effective, safe, and tolerable in the acute treatment of migraine and yields a consistent response.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I. R. Wilding, D. Clark, H. Wray, J. Alderman, N. Muirhead, and C. R. Sikes In Vivo Disintegration Profiles of Encapsulated and Nonencapsulated Sumatriptan: Gamma Scintigraphy in Healthy Volunteers J. Clin. Pharmacol., January 1, 2005; 45(1): 101 - 105. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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