Dopaminergic therapy in acute encephalitis lethargica.
We describe a patient with an acute illness, with clinical features characteristic of encephalitis lethargica, who responded repeatedly to trials of an apomorphine infusion and subsequently to oral levodopa therapy. This observation implies a direct acute neurotropic effect of the encephalitis on nigral dopaminergic cells. Dopaminergic medication may therefore be helpful in the acute stage of encephalitis lethargica as well as in the delayed post-encephalitic parkinsonian phase of the syndrome.
Department of Neurology, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom.
J
J
McAuley
M
M
Shahmanesh
M
M
Swash
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002230:Carbidopa / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010301:Parkinson Disease, Postencephalitic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
D015259:Dopamine Agents; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D007980:Levodopa; D002230:Carbidopa; D001058:Apomorphine