Changes in the motor response to acute L-dopa challenge after unilateral microelectrode-guided posteroventral pallidotomy.

To determine the effect of unilateral posteroventral pallidotomy (PVP) on latency and duration of response to L-dopa ipsilateral and contralateral to the side of the lesion, six severe fluctuating Hoehn-Yahr IV patients with Parkinson's disease were evaluated 2 days before and after unilateral PVP. After an overnight drug holiday in a fasting state, patients were challenged with a single dose of 200/50 mg of L-dopa/ carbidopa. Sequential tapping tests every 5 minutes in both hands were used to measure changes in motor status.

Involuntary movements during thermolesion predict a better outcome after microelectrode guided posteroventral pallidotomy.

Eight of the first 15 patients with advanced Parkinson's disease who underwent microelectrode guided posteroventral pallidotomy developed transient abnormal involuntary movements during thermolesion, four of whom also did so during high frequency macrostimulation. Abnormal involuntary movements found before thermolesion were choreic, ballistic, or choreoathetoid in nature, usually persisted less than 60 minutes, and were contralateral to the site of thermolesion in six and bilateral in two of them. The appearance of abnormal involuntary movements during macrostimulation or thermolesion of the internal globus pallidus correlated with better surgical outcome as measured by UPDRS motor items and CAPIT timed test, so that they seem to be of prognostic value.

Comparison of subcutaneous apomorphine versus dispersible madopar latency and effect duration in Parkinson's disease patients: a double-blind single-dose study.

Twelve parkinsonian patients with severely fluctuating symptoms were given a single dose of apomorphine or Dispersible Madopar on 2 consecutive days, to confirm the latter drug's usefulness in "off" period rescue. According to our results, apomorphine proved faster in reverting "off" periods and should still be regarded as the drug of choice for this treatment modality.

[Parkinson's disease: from pallidotomy to L-dopa and back to pallidotomy].

Until the introduction of L-dopa in the therapeutics of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) at the end of the 60's, treatment was essentially limited to anticholinergic drugs and surgical procedures devised to produce discrete lesions in the pallidum, ansa lenticularis and thalamus. L-dopa, associated with dopa decarboxylase inhibitors and dopaminergic agonists, gave rise to an almost complete standstill of surgical procedures. Nevertheless, natural progression of IPD with motor fluctuations and the appearance of L-dopa related abnormal involuntary movements caused surgery to reappear as a primary treatment option.