Some patients with akinetic mutism have shown to improve with levodopa or dopamine agonist therapy, or by repleting dopamine in the motivational circuit with stimulants, antidepressants, or agonists such as bromocriptine or amantadine.Other treatments include amantadine, carbidopa-levodopa, donepezil, memantine, and oral magnesium oxide. History
Fourteen-year-old Elsie Nicks was the first patient to be diagnosed with akinetic mutism by Hugh Cairns in 1941. She suffered from severe headaches her entire life and was eventually given morphine to help with treatment. She began to enter a state of akinetic mutism, experiencing apathy and loss of speech and motor control. A cyst on her right lateral ventricle was tapped, and as soon as the needle advanced toward the cyst, she let out a loud noise and was able to state her name, age, and address. After her cyst was emptied, she regained her alertness and intelligence, and she had no recollection of her time spent in the hospital. The cyst was drained two more times over the next seven months and was eventually removed. After eight months of rehabilitation, Elsie no longer experienced headaches or akinetic mutism symptoms. See also
Selective mutism
Locked-in syndrome
Athymhormic syndrome
Catatonia
Aboulia

References


== External links ==
The familial form tends to have an earlier onset and is present at birth in 24% of cases, with an average age at onset of 6.8 weeks. The average age at onset for the sporadic form is 9–11 weeks. Cortical hyperostosis is a potential side effect of long-term use of prostaglandins in neonates. History
Dr. John Caffey (1895–1978) first described infantile cortical hyperostosis in 1945. He described a group of infants with tender swelling in the soft tissues and cortical thickenings in the skeleton, with onset of these findings during the first 3 months of life. Dr. Caffey was regarded throughout the world as the father of pediatric radiology. His classic textbook, Pediatric X-Ray Diagnosis, which was first published in 1945, has become the recognized bible and authority in its field. References
External links
Radiographs of Infantile Cortical Hyperostosis