Case Report: Marked Effect of Cilostazol on Delirium in a Dementia Patient with Deep White Matter Lesions: Potential Etiology-Targeted Pharmacotherapy for Delirium

Abstract

Antipsychotics have been mainly used as pharmacotherapy for delirium. Their use is, however, only considered a symptom-targeted, but not an etiology-targeted therapy. Moreover, antipsychotics may also have some adverse effects in elderly patients. We report a case of an elderly dementia patient with deep white matter lesions whose delirium was markedly resolved with a platelet aggregation inhibitor, cilostazol. No antipsychotic drugs were used. To our knowledge, there have been no reports regarding the effect of cilostazol on delirium, despite not a few studies on cognitive function of Alzheimer disease and cerebrovascular disease. This case suggests that cilostazol is a potentially effective agent as an etiology-targeted therapy for delirium due to its possible increased regional cerebral blood flow.