Key clinical point: In patients with migraine, flunarizine (Fz)-induced parkinsonism (FIP) is associated with older age, history of comorbidities, exposure to high dose of Fz, and longer duration of exposure to Fz.
Major finding: In patients aged 45-64 years and 65 years or older, FIP risk was 3.18 and 4.89 times, respectively, higher in the Fz-treated group than in the controls. Compared with control group, the risk for FIP in those with comorbidities, annual cumulative Fz dose ≥445 mg, and Fz use for ≥60 days was 4.54-, 7.69-, and 8.49-fold, respectively, higher than in the control group.
Study details: A population-based study used data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database and included 6,470 patients with migraine who were divided into two groups, based on their exposure (n=3,235) or non-exposure to Fz (n=3,235).
Disclosures: This study was supported by grants from the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Clinical Trial Center; China Medical University Hospital; Academia Sinica Stroke Biosignature Project; MOST Clinical Trial Consortium for Stroke; Tseng-Lien Lin Foundation, Taichung, Taiwan; and Katsuzo and Kiyo Aoshima Memorial Funds, Japan. The authors declared no conflict of interest.
Citation: Lin W et al. Front Pharmacol. 2019 Dec 19. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2019.01495.