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Review
. 2009 May;2(1):4-9.
doi: 10.14802/jmd.09002. Epub 2009 Apr 30.

Apomorphine and levodopa infusion therapies for advanced Parkinson's disease

Angelo Antonini  1
Affiliations
Review

Apomorphine and levodopa infusion therapies for advanced Parkinson's disease

Angelo Antonini. J Mov Disord. 2009 May.

Abstract

Continuous infusion of levodopa or apomorphine provide constant dopaminergic stimulations are good alternatives to deep brain stimulation to control motor fluctuations in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). Apomorphine provides motor benefit similar to dopamine, but its long-term use is limited by compliance, mostly injection site skin reactions. Administration of levodopa/carbidopa by continuous duodenal infusion allows replacement of all oral medications and permits achievement of a satisfactory therapeutic response paralleled by a reduction in motor complication severity. However, this procedure is more invasive than apomorphine as it requires a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy Clinical experience with infusions shows that continuous dopaminergic stimulation of dopaminergic medications reduces dyskinesia and widens the therapeutic window in advanced PD.

Keywords: Apomorphine; Carbidopa; DBS; Duodopa; Infusion; Levodopa; Parkinson’s disease.

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