title: Memantine for behavioral disturbances in frontotemporal dementia: a case series.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is one of the more common presenile dementias. Unlike Alzheimer disease, there are no approved medications to treat this debilitating condition.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To report the response of memantine on the behavioral manifestations of FTD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series of 3 patients diagnosed with FTD and treated with memantine.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 3 patients showed an improvement in total Neuropsychiatric Inventory score with specific improvements in the subscale scores of apathy, agitation, and anxiety. Memantine was well tolerated in all patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This small case series supports the notion that memantine may have a beneficial effect on the neuropsychiatric symptoms of FTD and should be further studied in a prospective clinical trial.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC 20307, USA. Margaret.Swanberg@us.army.mil
authors.forename: Margaret M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Swanberg
mesh_terms: D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008559:Memantine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography
chemical_list: D015259:Dopamine Agents; D008559:Memantine