title: [The problems of L-dopa therapy in the course of Parkinson syndrome].
abstract: 101 patients with Parkinson's disease were analyzed in a retrospective study to evaluate the influence of L-Dopa monotherapy, duration of the disease and age at onset on the clinical course of the syndrome. The effects of L-Dopa dosage adjustments after hospitalization were particularly considered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  patients with late onset of symptoms showed a more accelerated deterioration as compared to those with early manifestation of the disease who also were less severely affected. Patients treated with L-Dopa for more than five years had a greater neurological deficit score than patients who had not received L-Dopa. Besides a more severe course, these patients also exhibited significantly more dyskinesias and on-off-phenomena. It should be emphasized that in our study, 73% of the 101 patients had been treated inadequately prior to admission to our clinic. The extent of neurological deficit could be improved by L-Dopa dose adjustments in those cases. Only in 11% of cases, an augmentation of the dopa medication was found to be effective in improving the clinical syndrome, whereas in 43%, a substantial reduction of dosage was necessary and resulted in a marked improvement of the clinical syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Neurologische Universitätsklinik Hamburg-Eppendorf.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Emskötter
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lachenmayer
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heidenreich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001545:Benserazide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002230:Carbidopa / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D007980:Levodopa; D001545:Benserazide; D002230:Carbidopa
vernacular_title: Probleme der L-Dopa-Therapie im Verlauf des Parkinson-Syndroms.