title: The effect of pregnancy in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Pregnancy in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is a rare occurrence. Previous reports based on retrospective analysis suggest that pregnancy may have a deleterious effect on PD. We describe the effects of pregnancy on the symptomatology of a 33-year-old woman with PD using quantitative neurologic and quality-of-life scales prepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum. During her pregnancy, she was only treated with carbidopa/levodopa. The pregnancy resulted in a normal full-term vaginal delivery of a healthy infant. Significant worsening of this patient's motor symptoms occurred during pregnancy without return to baseline at 15 months postpartum. Pregnancy may exacerbate PD and may have a long-term negative impact on the course of the illness. This report may assist physicians in the counseling of patients with young-onset PD who wish to consider pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Miami School of Medicine, Florida 33136, USA.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Shulman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minagar
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Weiner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D002230:Carbidopa / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D018450:Disease Progression; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007980:Levodopa / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000187:drug effects; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D011788:Quality of Life
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D004338:Drug Combinations; C009265:carbidopa, levodopa drug combination; D007980:Levodopa; D002230:Carbidopa