Ateroid in the clinical treatment of multi-infarct dementia.

A clinical double-bind controlled trial was conducted in 30 aged, stabilized, multi-infarct demented patients who had been diagnosed according to Hachinski and DSM-III criteria. The multi-infarct dementia was not severe enough to preclude the patient's participation in psychometric tests. The patients were divided randomly into two groups of 15 each, one being treated with sulfomucopolysaccharide and the other with placebo. Treatment started after a washout period of 2 weeks and lasted 8 weeks. Clinical symptoms were monitored and a complete assessment was done by the Dementia Rating Scale of Gottfries, SHGRS, Nowlis' Scale for Mood (modified), and the Corsi Cube Test at intake, at 4 weeks of treatment, and at the end (8 weeks). Statistical evaluation of the clusters of those scales revealed a definite difference between active drug and placebo, with various degrees of significance. The most marked difference between the two treatment groups was seen in the SHGRS clusters (p less than 0.05 and p less than 0.005). Overall clinical judgments expressed by the physician and by the patients' relative were in good agreement with the results of psychometric tests. From these data it may be concluded that treatment with sulfomucopolysaccharides must not only be considered as an attempt at correcting risk factors but may represent an active therapeutic approach based on clinical and biological data.