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Comparative Study
. 2010 Mar;25(2):128-33.
doi: 10.1177/1533317509356692. Epub 2010 Feb 1.

Off-label medication use in frontotemporal dementia

Bei Hu  1 , Leslie Ross, John Neuhaus, David Knopman, Joel Kramer, Bradley Boeve, Richard J Caselli, Neill Graff-Radford, Mario F Mendez, Bruce L Miller, Adam L Boxer
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Off-label medication use in frontotemporal dementia

Bei Hu et al. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2010 Mar.

Abstract

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.

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