Comparing the Effect of Memantine and Placebo on Clinical Outcome of Intracranial Hemorrhage: A Randomized Double Blind Clinical Trial

Background: Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) is a stroke type which resulted in disability. Memantine have been supposed to have the effect on the functional status in patients with ICH. Objectives: Comparing the effect of memantine with placebo on the clinical outcome of ICH. Materials and Methods: This double-blind clinical trial was conducted in an academic hospital in northern Iran on patients with ICH allocated in memantine and placebo group through the random block method. The patients’ neurological status was assessed on admission, the seventh day, upon discharge and ultimately three months after the ICH onset, according to the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), modified Rankin Scale (mRS), Barthel Index (BI) and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). The data analysis was done by using independent t-test, Chi-square and repeated measure tests in SPSS software version 21. Results: A total of 64 patients have been allocated into two equal size groups with no significant differences in terms of age or gender (p>0.05). The mean increase in the BI and the decrease in the mRS were significantly greater in the memantine group compared with the placebo group as measured from admission time until three months following the ICH onset (p=0.001 and p=0.049, respectively). No significant differences were observed between the two groups in mortality rate (p=0.492) and the means and changes of the GCS (p=0.331) and the NIHSS score (p=0.211). Conclusion: Early administration of memantine to ICH patients can result in significant improvement of long-term motor function and functional independence.