For children and adolescents living with migraine, there may be a new preventive treatment, according to a preliminary study published today, February 26, 2025, which will be presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology that will take place from April 5 to 9, 2025, in San Diego and online. The researchers found that the zonisamide medication, which has been used to treat seizures, can reduce migraine days in this age group. This study does not prove that zonisamide reduces migraine days; It only shows an association.
“Migraine disease is weakening and can lead to children having to lose school and other activities,” said author Anisa Kelley, MD, of the Northwestern University Faculty of Medicine University in Chicago. “Currently, there is only a preventive medication of migraine approved by the FDA for this age group. Our results are encouraging, showing that zonisamide can be another option to reduce migraine attacks.”
For the study, the researchers reviewed the health records in an institution. They identified 256 children and adolescents who had been diagnosed with migraine and prescribed preventive zonisamide. Of these participants, 28% had a difficult migraine to treat, which was defined as that migraine disease was treated unsuccessfully with two or more previous medications. The researchers documented the number of headache days per month for each participant before and after starting the zonisamide.
Then they divided the participants into three subgroups depending on how long they took the medication before a follow -up visit with a doctor. The first group continued in the first month, the second group within two to six months and the third group, after six months.
For all participants, the average number of days of headache per month was reduced from 18 to six on the first tracking visit. When comparing between the groups, the subgroup that followed in two to six months had the highest reduction with an average decrease of six days of headache per month. Kelley said the data suggested that the medicine was more effective after at least two months of use.
The data also suggested that the drug was effective for those with migraine disease difficult to treat and for those without.
“It is very exciting that we have an effective way to treat a difficult migraine disease in children and adolescents, however, it is important to keep in mind that our study had limitations,” Kelley said. “For example, our study did not compare people who take the medication with people who did not take the medication. Future studies are needed with control groups to confirm our results.”
This study was funded by the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Chicago Children’s Hospital.