Clinical experience with risperidone and memantine in the treatment of Huntington's disease

J Natl Med Assoc. 2006 Aug;98(8):1353-5.

Abstract

We described a 32-year-old woman with Huntington's disease (HD) who presented with severe chorea, psychosis and cognitive abnormalities. We started risperidone at 2 mg p.o./d and increased to 4 mg p.o./d after six weeks. Psychotic and motor symptoms were markedly improved. Since there was no change in cognitive functions, we added memantine at 5 mg p.o./d and gradually increased the dose to 20 mg p.o/d after five weeks. We continued risperidone and memantine for nearly six months. The patient did not show any progression of cognitive symptoms or motor abnormalities. We did not observe any psychotic symptoms.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cognition / physiology
  • Dopamine Antagonists / therapeutic use*
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / therapeutic use*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Huntington Disease / drug therapy*
  • Huntington Disease / physiopathology
  • Memantine / therapeutic use*
  • Risperidone / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Dopamine Antagonists
  • Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists
  • Risperidone
  • Memantine