Karli D C, Burke D T, Kim H J, Calvanio R, Fitzpatrick M, Temple D, Macneil M, Pesez K, Lepak P
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Brain Inj. 1999 Jan;13(1):63-8. doi: 10.1080/026990599121908.
Traumatic brain injury poses significant and diverse challenges to rehabilitation efforts. Neurobehavioural deficits represent a particularly difficult barrier to rehabilitative progress and societal reintegration. Early studies have identified dopaminergic drugs such as amantadine, bromocriptine and sinemet as potentially assistive in countering these deficits. To date, side effect profiles have been relatively benign, noted most frequently in small-scale case trials. The case of a 40-year-old patient with bilateral frontal traumatic brain injuries, and previous arteriovenous malformation (AVM) bleed with significant ataxia, dysarthria and neurobehavioural deficits is presented. This long range study demonstrates, through multiple varied dosing schedules, a trade off between the benefits and side effects of dopaminergic therapy, with implications for a larger brain injury population.
