[The use of amantadine sulfate in ischemic stroke]

To assess the efficacy and safety of amantadine sulfate in patients with ischemic stroke.

Ninety five patients with ischemic stroke were randomized within 120 hours from the onset of symptoms into two groups: patients of the main group received amantadine sulfate (400 mg/day intravenously) for 4 days, followed by oral administration at 400 mg/day for 6 days; the comparison group received standard therapy according to the order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 928n. The observation period for the patients was 90 days. The main indicators of treatment efficacy were: Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), Bartel Index (BI), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and mortality. Any side effects were recorded to assess safety.

There were no statistically significant differences between the main group and the comparison group for the main parameters. However, we observed better results in patients with mild stroke (NIHSS <13 points) and atherothrombotic pathogenetic variant of ischemic stroke. This observation should be confirmed in subsequent clinical studies.