Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0018991 (hemiplegia)
 3,997 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We report here the efficacy of amantadine hydrochloride for two patients with alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC) that did not respond to flunarizine. Amantadine was administered to one patient at age one year and seven months and to the other at age 25 years. The frequencies and duration of the hemiplegic attacks significantly improved in both patients. However, the attacks gradually returned to the previous level after a significant reduction in seizures for three years in the younger patient with ongoing AHC. Our therapeutic results further support the hypothesis that glutamate and NMDA receptors are involved in inducing alternating hemiplegic attacks, because amantadine as well as its derivative, memantine, are clinically available non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, with neuroprotective effects. Amantadine is worth trying when treating patients with AHC as a first trial or a substitute for flunarizine once the latter agent looses effect.
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PMID:Successful trial of amantadine hydrochloride for two patients with alternating hemiplegia of childhood. 1150 50