1/2. Treating organic abulia with bromocriptine and lisuride: four case studies.Abulia refers to an impairment of will, or the inability to initiate behaviour and action. There are reports of successful treatment of akinetic mutism, the most severe form of abulia, with bromocriptine. Four case studies are presented describing the successful treatment of abulia at a lesser severity than akinetic mutism with bromocriptine. Abulia was caused by brain damage due to alcohol in two cases, Wilson's disease and basal ganglia infarct in one each. Maximum bromocriptine dose varied from 25-70 mg. All improved considerably. Withdrawal or reduction of medication in three produced deterioration. The prescription of a neuroleptic drug had a similar effect in the fourth. One patient with a previous history developed a depressive relapse and so the drug was withdrawn and lisuride introduced. This produced a similar improvement. These cases highlight the value of identifying the syndrome of organic abulia and suggest that dopamine agonists may have a place in its treatment, though controlled studies are needed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = behaviour (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/2. Korsakoff's syndrome as the initial presentation of multiple sclerosis.A 37-year-old man presented with an acute amnestic syndrome of Korsakoff's type and an upper brain-stem oculomotor syndrome. After a moderate improvement with steroid therapy, he developed progressive behavioural changes due to a frontal lobe syndrome, in addition to motor and visual impairment. memory performance was investigated on several occasions during an 11-year follow-up. diagnosis of laboratory-supported definite multiple sclerosis was established and magnetic resonance imaging showed disseminated white matter lesions, especially in both medial temporal lobes. No other cause than multiple sclerosis was found for the amnestic syndrome. Among the rare cases of Korsakoff's syndrome in the course of multiple sclerosis, this is to our knowledge the first case in which a memory deficit was the initial manifestation of the disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = behaviour (Clic here for more details about this article) |