Source: Haemophilia  |  Posted 9 years ago

Modafinil, a newly released, central stimulant used to treat narcolepsy, could help relieve spasticity in children with cerebral palsy.

Research was initiated after one patient was reported to have a dramatic reduction in spasticity when prescribed the drug, report investigators from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Centre in Lubbock, United States.

A pilot project with 10 paediatric patients to attempted to confirm or refute modafinil's effect in cerebral palsy. "Modafinil appears to benefit spastic cerebral palsy by a yet to be determined mechanism," the researchers concluded.

They hypothesize that a primary effect of modafinil on brainstem structures reduces spasticity of central origin.

The patients were treated with 50 milligrams or 100 mg of modafinil once daily in the morning. Assessments including clinical examinations, spasticity assessment by a physical therapist using Ashworth Scale scores and videotaping of ambulation were performed at baseline and again after one month.

Nine patients completed treatment.

The researchers say statistically significant improvement was noted in seven of the nine patients after one-month of modafinil treatment. "A blinded review of the videotapes did not show statistically significant differences in ambulation, but the speed of gait improved in six of the nine patients," they add.

A second larger, placebo-controlled and double-blinded trial is planned to confirm their results and observations.