English summaries 10.8.2018 32/2018 vsk 73 s. 1669 - 1675

Drug treatment of adult-onset Huntington’s disease in Finland

Jussi O. T. SipiläValtteri KaasinenKari Majamaa

Lääkkeiden käyttö diagnoosihetkellä ja viiden vuoden kuluttua diagnoosista niillä potilailla (n = 72), joilta tiedot olivat saatavilla molemmista ajankohdista.<p/>

Neuroleptejä, antidepressantteja ja rauhoittavia lääkkeitä käyttäneiden potilaiden osuudet (95 %:n LV) diagnoosivaiheessa ja viisi vuotta diagnoosista tutkimusjakson alkussa ja lopussa.

Potilailla käytössä olleiden neuroleptien jakauma diagnoosivaiheessa ennen vuotta 2002, diagnoosivaiheessa vuodesta 2002 alkaen, viiden vuoden kuluttua diagnoosista ennen vuotta 2006 ja viiden vuoden kuluttua diagnoosista vuodesta 2006 alkaen.<p/>

Potilaiden jakauma neurolepti- ja rauhoittavan lääkityksen suhteen diagnoosivaiheessa ja viiden vuoden kuluttua diagnoosista.<p/>

Background No universally accepted evidence-based guidelines are available for the drug treatment of symptoms in Huntington’s disease (HD) and expert opinion differs between regions globally.

Methods Persons with a diagnosis of HD in Finland in 1987–2010 were identified from national registries and patient charts were used to verify the diagnosis and gather clinical information.

Results Movement disorders of Finnish HD patients were mainly treated with neuroleptics. Of these, haloperidol was the most common although its proportion declined during the study period. Tetrabenazine was used very rarely, less often than clonazepam. Drugs with sedative potential were used quite often. Sleep medications that do not disrupt sleep architecture were seldom utilized. Drug treatment did not differ between men and women or between young and old patients.

Conclusions It seems that Finnish patients with HD are treated largely following international consensus, although the treatment of affective and sleep disorders might be optimized.