V. Lehmann et al., Drug influence on visuospatial attention deficit in patients with right hemisphere media infarction, AKT NEUROL, 28(4), 2001, pp. 176-181
21 patients with a right MCA infarction were treated either with imipramin
(n = 11) or piracetam (n = 10) and compared with 12 control patients of the
same etiology. We compared their performance in visuospatial attention (vi
sual scanning and neglect-test of the attention testing battery), alertness
, functional independence (Functional independence Measure, FIM) and subjec
tive wellbeing before and after a four weeks treatment. Age and intelligenc
e were matched for the three groups. Treatments were performed in a rehabil
itation hospital. All patients received an integrated physiotherapeutic, oc
cupational therapeutic and neuropsychological treatment. The three groups i
mproved significantly in their functional independence. The group treated w
ith imipramin showed a significant increase in the alerting response and a
significant better performance in visuospatial attention compared to the tw
o other groups. Recent neuroscientific studies argue for a role of noradren
alin in visuospatial attention and alerting tasks. Our studies shaw that a
treatment of patients who suffer from a deficit in visuospatial attention a
nd in alerting (i.e. patients with right MCA infarcts) with an antidepressa
nt of relevant noradrenergic potency might help to endorse recovery.