Off-label medication use in frontotemporal dementia.
OBJECTIVE
There are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications indicated for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We sought to determine the most commonly used drugs used to treat behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) in specialized dementia clinics.


METHODS
Medication and demographic data from the Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers of California (ARCC) and a multicenter FTD natural history study (NHS) data set were compared in bvFTD and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and effects of demographic variables were assessed using logistic regression.


RESULTS
Overall, the percentage of patients taking one or more FDA-approved AD or psychiatric medications was similar in bvFTD and AD; however, after controlling for demographic variables, acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChI) use was less common in bvFTD, whereas memantine use remained similar in the 2 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite lack of evidence for efficacy, the use of AChIs and memantine is common in bvFTD. Clinical trials should be pursued to determine the optimal therapeutic interventions for bvFTD.
Bei Hu
Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
Ross
Leslie
L
Neuhaus
John
J
Knopman
David
D
Kramer
Joel
J
Boeve
Bradley
B
Caselli
Richard J
RJ
Graff-Radford
Neill
N
Mendez
Mario F
MF
Miller
Bruce L
BL
Boxer
Adam L
AL
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D002140:California; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008559:Memantine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D015259:Dopamine Agents; D008559:Memantine