Comparing the Effect of Memantine and Placebo on Clinical Outcome of Intracranial Hemorrhage: A Randomized Double Blind Clinical Trial

Background: Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) is a stroke type which resultedin disability. Memantine have been supposed to have the effect on thefunctional status in patients with ICH.Objectives: Comparing the effect of memantine with placebo on the clinicaloutcome of ICH.Materials and Methods: This double-blind clinical trial was conducted in anacademic hospital in northern Iran on patients with ICH allocated in memantineand placebo group through the random block method. The patients’neurological status was assessed on admission, the seventh day, upon dischargeand ultimately three months after the ICH onset, according to the NationalInstitute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), modified Rankin Scale (mRS),Barthel Index (BI) and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). The data analysis wasdone by using independent t-test, Chi-square and repeated measure tests inSPSS software version 21.Results: A total of 64 patients have been allocated into two equal size groupswith no significant differences in terms of age or gender (p> 0.05). The meanincrease in the BI and the decrease in the mRS were significantly greater in thememantine group compared with the placebo group as measured fromadmission time until three months following the ICH onset (p=0.001 andp=0.049, respectively). No significant differences were observed between thetwo groups in mortality rate (p=0.492) and the means and changes of the GCS(p=0.331) and the NIHSS score (p=0.211).Conclusion: Early administration of memantine to ICH patients can result insignificant improvement of long-term motor function and functionalindependence.

Comparing the Effect of Memantine and Placebo on Clinical Outcome of Intracranial Hemorrhage: A Randomized Double Blind Clinical Trial Keywords:

Memantine , Intracerebral Hemorrhage , Treatment Outcome