A case of apathy due to frontotemporal dementia responsive to memantine.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To study the effect of memantine on apathy, a common symptom of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).

DESIGN:

The patient underwent an off-label trial of memantine with behavioral inventories and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scans performed at baseline, 7 weeks and 6 months.

SUBJECT:

The patient was a 66-year-old male whose main manifestation of bvFTD was affective, behavioral and cognitive apathy.

INTERVENTION:

The patient began memantine at an oral dose of 5 mg per morning and titrated up by 5 mg per week to the maintenance dose of 10 mg PO bid.

RESULTS:

Informants reported reduction of the apathy. The insula and cerebellum, both involved in the salience network, showed improved metabolism.

CONCLUSION:

Further study to correlate the effects of memantine on apathy and the salience network in bvFTD are warranted.

• Authors: Kira A Links, Sandra E Black, Ariel Graff-Guerrero, Alan A Wilson, Sylvain Houle, Bruce G Pollock, Tiffany W Chow
• Journal: Neurocase (Neurocase) Vol. 19 Issue 3 Pg. 256-61 ( 2013) ISSN: 1465-3656 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 22515731 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Dopamine Agents
• Memantine

Topics

• Aged
• Apathy (drug effects)
• Atrophy (etiology)
• Dopamine Agents (therapeutic use)
• Follow-Up Studies
• Frontal Lobe (diagnostic imaging, drug effects, pathology)
• Frontotemporal Dementia (drug therapy, psychology)
• Humans
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Male
• Memantine (therapeutic use)
• Neuropsychological Tests
• Positron-Emission Tomography