The management of severe Alzheimer disease may include the use of cholinesterase inhibitors and/or memantine, and atypical antipsychotics for patients with severe agitation, aggression and psychosis, according to the Third Canadian Consensus Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia (Herrmann & Gauthier. Can Med Assoc J 2008;179:1279-1287; free text at www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/179/12/1279. See also Patterson et al. Can Med Assoc J 1999;160:1738-1742).