title: Upper airway muscles dysfunction and levodopa responsiveness in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Pulmonary function tests were performed before and at different times after 250 mg L-Dopa in 12 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Six were de-novo patients, the other six patients had been taking L-Dopa over different periods. All patients had an abnormal basal flow-volume loop, which significantly improved only in de-novo patients. This improvement occurred early and was independent on improvement of neurological symptoms. The effect of L-Dopa on pulmonary function could be a useful test in differentiating PD from related extrapyramidal syndromes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Second School of Medicine, University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brescia Morra
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polverino
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galdi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Campanella
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012132:Respiratory Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D007980:Levodopa