Evaluation of the Effect of CDP-Choline on Poststroke Hemiplegia Employing a Double-Blind Controlled Trial: Assessed by a New Rating Scale for Recovery in Hemiplegia

Abstract

A double-blind study was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of CDP-choline on functional recovery of hemiplegia. A standardized 12-grade scale (Hemiplegia Function Test) was utilized for the evaluation. The results indicate that for the upper limbs, doses of 1,000 and 250 mg of CDP-choline were superior to placebo at 8 weeks. The higher dose showed an effect at 4 weeks equal to that at 8 weeks while the effect of the lower dose was slower but reached the same level of effect as the higher dose at 8 weeks. Similar results were obtained for the lower limbs but the effectiveness was not statistically significant. The lesser effect for the lower limbs could be attributed to the relatively small number of patients in the early stages of recovery in the present series. No significant differences were found for the effects on subjective symptoms, neurological signs and overall judgment of the physicians. The findings suggest that CDP-choline promotes natural recovery in hemiplegia.