A CLINICAL-TRIAL OF VERAPAMIL IN AMYOTROPHIC-LATERAL-SCLEROSIS

Seventy-two patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) were enr olled in a clinical trial of the efficacy of verapamil in the treatmen t of ALS. In period 1 (pretreatment, months 1-3) and period 3 (posttre atment, months 10-12), patients received no drug, In period 2 (months 4-9), patients received verapamil. The slopes of declining pulmonary f unction and limb megascores were not significantly different during dr ug treatment compared to natural history and washout periods. Thus, ve rapamil was ineffective in slowing the clinical progression in ALS pat ients, Controlled trials using a natural history period may represent a faster and less expensive method of screening drugs for ALS compared to placebo-controlled trials. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.