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Amantadine hydrochloride treatment in olivopontocerebellar atrophy: a long-term follow-up study
M I Botez1, T Botez-Marquard, R Elie
1Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal - Campus Hôtel-Dieu, Service de Neurologie, Unité de Neurologie du Comportement, Neurobiologie et Neuropsychologie, Montreal, Qué., Canada.
Abstract:
The efficacy of amantadine, a dopamine-releasing agent and antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor, was evaluated in patients with olivopontocerebellar atrophy. By contrast to an untreated control group whose terminal performance deteriorated on 8 of 8 measurements of reaction time and movement time, patients treated with amantadine for a mean duration of over 40 months had improved performances in 1 of 4 reaction time measurements and in 3 of 4 movement time measurements and remained stable on the others. These results demonstrate long-term benefits of amantadine in olivopontocerebellar atrophy-induced deficits of movement initiation and movement completion.