Multicentre clinical placebo-controlled study with buflomedil in the treatment of mild dementia of vascular origin.

A study was carried out in 73 male or female patients suffering from mild vascular dementia. The experimental protocol involved an initial run-in period (14 days) and subsequent double-blind, randomized treatment with 300 mg buflomedil or placebo given orally twice daily for 90 days. At the end of this treatment period, all patients received buflomedil for a further 90 days and, thereafter, patients received buflomedil or no further treatment for another 90 days. The efficacy of buflomedil was monitored using rating scales and neuropsychological tests. The findings of the study indicate that buflomedil improved the symptoms of vascular dementia; the most improvement was recorded in patients who had received buflomedil for the longest period. Inadequacy, cooperation, psycho-affective disorders, self-care and somatic complaints were positively influenced by buflomedil. The efficacy of buflomedil may be due to its effects on platelet aggregation and improvement in blood flow distribution to the ischaemic brain and oxygenation of brain tissue.