title: Juvenile Parkinson's disease and its response to L-dopa therapy.
abstract: Four youngsters, between the ages of 13-27 years, presented dystonic foot. Two to three years following the appearance of the dystonic foot, cogwheel rigidity and tremor appeared on the dystonic foot side. Treatment with low doses of levodopa/carbidopa consistently reversed the symptoms. "On-off" phenomena appeared in the first years of treatment and persisted for the entire period of 5 to 15 years of illness. No parkinsonian signs were present when the dystonic foot appeared. Based on our observations and on a review of the literature, we conclude that responsiveness to low doses of L-dopa is the major marker of juvenile Parkinson's disease.
authors.affiliation: Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Askenasy
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mendelson
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Keren
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Braun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010375:Pedigree
chemical_list: D007980:Levodopa