[Amantadine in cognitive failure in patients with traumatic head injuries]

In patients with severe cerebral injuries, attentional dysfunction may cause greater difficulties for rehabilitation than neurological deficits. These functions seem to be controlled by catecholaminergic neural systems in the central nervous system. Dopamine agonists have therefore been recently introduced in the treatment of these patients. We describe two patients treated with amantadine in daily doses of 200-400 mg. We observed improvement of cognitive functions such as visual attention, speed of information processing, attentional span, learning capacity and alertness. We stress the value of amantadine as a treatment adjuvant in patients with severe attentional deficits following injury of the brain.