title: Neuroleptic malignant syndrome-like, or--dopaminergic malignant syndrome--due to levodopa therapy withdrawal. Clinical features in 11 patients.
abstract: A clinical picture named neuroleptic malignant-like syndrome has been described in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who suddenly stop their L-dopa treatment. The sudden withdrawal of the drug is deemed to lead to an acute deficiency stage in a patient who has an iatrogenic increase of dopaminergic transmission. We present a series of 11 patients with PD with an average age of 72.09 years, a mean disease duration of 9.45 years who developed this problem after a 92.72 h latency period. If patients with PD develop severe rigidity, stupor and hyperthermia, L-dopa withdrawal should be suspected and the dopaminergic drug restarted as soon as possible.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología del Hospital Carlos Andrade Marín and Facultad de Medicina de la Pontificia, Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, PO Box 17-03-1694, Quito, Ecuador. serranom@pi.pro.ec
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serrano-Dueñas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009459:Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D007980:Levodopa