Does tDCS is Effective in the Prophylactic Treatment of Migraine

May 19, 2014 updated by: Kátia Monte-Silva, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in the Visual Cortex of Migraine Patients: Neurophysiological and Clinical Implications

Migraine has been described as one of the most common neurological diseases, with high social and economic impact. Despite the high prevalence, the pathophysiology of migraine is still unknown, several studies have been developed in order to advance the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of the disease which are not yet entirely elucidated. The aim of this study is to observe the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), applied in the visual cortex, on neurophysiological and clinical measures (frequency, intensity, duration of attacks and severity of pain) in migraine patients.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Unknown

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
36

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Brazil
    • Pernambuco
      • Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, 50740-560
        • Recruiting
        • Applied Neuroscience Laboratory-LANA
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Kátia Karina Monte-Silva, Dr

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 40 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion criteria for migraine patients:

  • Age must be between 18 to 40 years
  • Gender: male and female
  • Diagnosis must meet the 2004 IHS criteria for migraine without aura and migraine with aura
  • Duration of the disease must be at least 12 months
  • Patients had no preventative medication consistently for at least six months prior to study initiation.

Inclusion criteria for healthy individuals

  • Age must be between 18 to 40 years
  • Gender: male and female
  • Individuals who have not filed headache crisis in the last year assessed according to the 2004 IHS criteria

Exclusion criteria

  • Pregnant woman
  • Individuals with clinical evidence of brain injury
  • Metallic implant head
  • Pacemaker
  • History of seizure and chronic pain associated with other pathologies

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: tDCS
The experimental group received tDCS to the occipital cortex in 12 sessions, 3 days per week.
Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation
tDCS involves application of very low amplitude direct current via surface scalp electrodes. The applied current modifies the transmembrane neuronal potential and thus influences the level of excitability. Depending on the polarity of active electrodes tDCS can increase or decrease the cortical excitability. The cathodal tDCS decrease the excitability, in this study a constant current of 2 mA intensity was applied for 20 min.
Sham Comparator: control
The control group received sham stimulation to the occipital cortex in 12 sessions, 3 days per week.
Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation
tDCS involves application of very low amplitude direct current via surface scalp electrodes. The applied current modifies the transmembrane neuronal potential and thus influences the level of excitability. Depending on the polarity of active electrodes tDCS can increase or decrease the cortical excitability. The cathodal tDCS decrease the excitability, in this study a constant current of 2 mA intensity was applied for 20 min.
No Intervention: healthy subjects
This group was submitted to one evaluation session of cortical excitability.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from phosphene threshold
Time Frame: At baseline,1 month, 2 months, 3 months/ per session - at baseline and 30 minutes (after tDCS)
A 10-cm circular coil was used that has giving a peak magnetic field strength of 2 tesla. Subjects were asked to wear a blindfold, sit comfortably in a chair and to close their eyes to diminish ambient light.In sagittal line, three points were scored: 2, 3 and 4 cm above the inion. The single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied to one of the points scored and the subject was asked to report the presence or absence of a phosphene immediately after stimulation. The stimulation was repeated ten times at each intensity with a maximum frequency of 0.2 Hz, stimulation was initially applied to 60% of the maximum intensity of the stimulator. The intensity of stimulation was changed into blocks of 5% to minimum intensity that the subject can perceive the phosphene certainly, five times ten, then this value was set as the PT for migraineurs and controls.
At baseline,1 month, 2 months, 3 months/ per session - at baseline and 30 minutes (after tDCS)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from eletroencephalography
Time Frame: At baseline, 1 month and 2 months, 3 months
Electroencephalography was performed by digital EEG equipment, the sampling rate of 500 Hz, 0.5 Hz high pass filter and low pass 35 Hz to capture brain electrical activity through 23 electrodes on the scalp according to the International 10-20 system.After positioning the electrodes, the subject remained comfortably seated and relaxed, but awake, with eyes closed 30 cm from the photic stimulator and, without any stimulation, EEG was collected for 1 minute (baseline).After the baseline, was collected a sequence of 1 minute record without stimulation followed by 3 seconds to 9 Hz photic stimulation. This sequence is repeated 4 times. After this procedure, the subject received trains of visual stimuli, 20 seconds each, at frequencies of 3, 9, 15, 21 and 27 Hz, 1 minute spaced from each other and totaling 12 minutes evaluation.
At baseline, 1 month and 2 months, 3 months
Change from pain diary
Time Frame: 3 followed months
The diary is a report of the frequency of the migraine attacks, the intensity, the onset and duration of the pain, the number of migraine-related days (the number of days on which the patients had migraine-related symptoms) and the type of analgesics in case of a migraine attack;
3 followed months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2013

Study Completion (Anticipated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 18, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 21, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
June 25, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 20, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 19, 2014

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Migraine_tDCS

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