RT Journal
A1 Barbeau A
T1 SIx years of high-level levodopa therapy in severely akinetic parkinsonian patients
JF Archives of Neurology
JO Archives of Neurology
YR 1976
FD May 1
VO 33
IS 5
SP 333
OP 338
DO 10.1001/archneur.1976.00500050019004
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archneur.1976.00500050019004
AB • The clinical course and the side effects of high-level levodopa therapy over a six-year period were studied in 80 severely akinetic parkinsonian patients treated for the first time before June 1968. Levodopa improved the quality of life in greater than 53% of patients, but failed to modify the progression of the disease or change the prognosis. Seventeen "idiopathic Parkinson" patients died after a duration of illness of 9.5 years. Despite the drawbacks, levodopa is still the best available treatment for akinetic parkinsonism.