Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29075232›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in neurology2017

The Efficacy of Venlafaxine, Flunarizine, and Valproic Acid in the Prophylaxis of Vestibular Migraine.

Fenye Liu, Tianbao Ma, Xiaolin Che, Qirong Wang, Shudong Yu

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in neurology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
38citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
4.5field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

38 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Prophylactic Management of Vestibular Migraine: A Systematic Review.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2025
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
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  6. Pharmacological interventions for prophylaxis of vestibular migraine.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023
    Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
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  9. Trial
  10. Flunarizine and cinnarizine in the prophylaxis of vestibular migraine and migraine-associated menière's disease: An 8-month retrospective study.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026
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  20. Long-Term Effects of Intervention on Vestibular Migraine: A Preliminary Study.The Annals of otology, rhinology, and laryngology · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Fenye LiuDepartment of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Tianbao MaDepartment of Hearing Central, Women and Children's Health Care Hospital of Linyi, Linyi, China.
Xiaolin CheDepartment of Otolaryngology, Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, China.
Qirong WangDepartment of Otolaryngology, Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, China.
Shudong YuDepartment of Otolaryngology, Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, China.
Shandong Provincial QianFoShan Hospital · CNLinyi People's Hospital · CNShandong Provincial Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDifferent types of medications are currently used in vestibular migraine (VM) prophylaxis, although recommendations for use are generally based on expert opinion rather than on solid data from randomized trials. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of venlafaxine, flunarizine, and valproic acid in a randomized comparison trial for VM prophylaxis.

methodsSubjects were randomly allocated to one of three groups (venlafaxine group, flunarizine group, and valproic acid group). To assess the efficacy of treatment on vertigo symptoms, the following parameters were assessed at baseline and 3 months after treatment: Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) scores, number of vertiginous attacks in the previous month, and Vertigo Severity Score (VSS). Adverse events also were evaluated.

resultsA decrease in DHI total scores was shown following treatment with all three medications, with no obvious differences between the groups. Treatment effects differed, however, in the DHI physical, functional, and emotional domains with only venlafaxine showing a decreased effect in all of three domains. Flunarizine and valproic acid showed an effect in only one DHI domain. Venlafaxine and flunarizine showed decreased VSS scores (

conclusionOur data confirm the efficacy and safety of venlafaxine, flunarizine, and valproic acid in the prophylaxis of VM, venlafaxine had an advantage in terms of emotional domains. Venlafaxine and valproic acid also were shown to be preferable to flunarizine in decreasing the number of vertiginous attacks, but valproic acid was shown to be less effective than venlafaxine and flunarizine to decrease vertigo severity.

trial registrationChiCTR-OPC-17011266 (http://www.chictr.org.cn/).

Indexed as

efficacyflunarizineprophylaxisvalproic acidvenlafaxinevestibular migraine

Identifiers

PMID29075232
PMCPMC5641552
OpenAlexW2760933187

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.