Complications Following the Use of Ergotamine Tartrate

In the past five years ergotamine tartrate¹has been used by an increasing number of physicians as an effective means of aborting or terminating migraine headache. More than 300 cases have been reported in which its use has given prompt relief in approximately 90 per cent of the patients.²Many of these patients have continued to use ergotamine tartrate over long periods of time. Possible development of ergotism from such prolonged use has been a source of some concern. It is my purpose in this study to analyze all the original reports concerning untoward sequelae of ergotamine tartrate therapy and to present some observations and deductions based on five years' experience with the drug in the treatment of migraine headache. LITERATURE Since the isolation of ergotamine tartrate by Stoll³in 1918, forty-two serious sequelae have been reported following its use.⁴Twenty-three have occurred in