A postmarketing study of flunarizine in migraine and vertigo

This prospective, open multi-centre study on flunarizine focused on the risk/benefit ratio of the use of flunarizine in the prophylaxis of migraine and in the treatment of vertigo, due to disorder of the vestibular system. The assessment of risks focused on the incidence of new events of depression and/or extrapyramidal syndrome during flunarizine treatment. For migraine, flunarizine was compared to propranolol in 686 patients; for vertigo, flunarizine was compared to betahistine in 198 patients. The incidence of depression during follow-up in this study was significantly higher in the flunarizine group than in the propranolol group in the condition of migraine. There were no observations of an extrapyramidal syndrome. There was a suggestion that flunarizine has more benefits than propranolol in the condition of migraine, and that betahistine has more benefit than flunarizine in the condition of vertigo. Differences in dosages could possible explain these differences.