Apomorphine for the acute treatment of "off" episodes in Parkinson's disease.
Many patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) experience motor complications, which negatively impact quality of life, despite optimized oral therapy. It is important for patients to have a treatment option that may provide rapid relief from "off" episodes. In three pivotal, randomized, placebo-controlled trials, subcutaneous apomorphine was effective in acutely treating "off" episodes, significantly improving Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale motor scores and reducing the number of "off" hours per day, with a significantly shorter time to patient-declared onset of relief than placebo. Thus, clinical trial data support the efficacy of intermittent subcutaneous apomorphine as a rapid acute treatment for "off" episodes in advanced PD.
Stacy
Mark
M
Division of Neurology, Duke University, 932 Morreene Road, MS 3333, Durham, NC27705, USA. mark.stacy@duke.edu <mark.stacy@duke.edu>
Silver
Dee
D
D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012042:Registries
D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D001058:Apomorphine