Memantine and Catatonia

Abstract

Catatonia is a movement disorder with various possible etiologies. The majority of cases are associated with an underlying mood or psychotic disorder, while others are caused by medical conditions. Currently, benzodiazepines are the first-line psychopharmacologic agents in the treatment of catatonia. However, several cases have been reported in which treatment with memantine proved to be effective. We present the case of a 92-year-old female with major depressive disorder and associated catatonic symptoms. In this case, the patient's symptoms remitted quickly after the initiation of memantine. We review the possible causes of catatonia and pharmacologic treatments for the condition and highlight the possible benefits of N-methylD-aspartic acid receptor antagonists such as memantine in the treatment of catatonia.

A Clinical Review of the Treatment of Catatonia

“…It should be noted, however, that six of these cases were unpublished, and that seven other were cases experiencing a “ catatonia-parkinsonian syndrome ” while under treatment with the high-potency neuroleptic drugs haloperidol or fluphenazine. The symptoms diminished when neuroleptics were tapered and amantadine was added ( 104 , 105 ). Since then, eleven additional cases describing the successful use of amantadine or memantine in catatonia have been published ( 58 , 105 – 110 ).…”

“…The symptoms diminished when neuroleptics were tapered and amantadine was added ( 104 , 105 ). Since then, eleven additional cases describing the successful use of amantadine or memantine in catatonia have been published ( 58 , 105 – 110 ). In one case, in an adolescent girl, catatonia that was resistant to ECT improved after the addition of amantadine ( 58 ).…”

Current electroconvulsive therapy practice and research in the geriatric population

“…Benzodiazepines are used as first-line treatment for mild-to-moderate catatonia [135]. Some authors have also suggested alternative medications for elderly catatonic patients, such as midazolam [136], memantine [137,138], topiramate [139] and amantadine [140]. ECT can be very effective for medication-resistant catatonia [134,135,141].…”

Memantine: New prospective in bipolar disorder treatment

“…Finally, memantine have been shown to be effective in a number of catatonia cases resistant to lorazepam and/or electroconvulsive therapy [123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130] .…”