Enteral levodopa/carbidopa infusion in advanced Parkinson disease: long-term exposure
Enteral levodopa/carbidopa infusion in advanced Parkinson disease: long-term exposure
In patients with advanced Parkinson disease, levodopa/carbidopa formulated as a gel suspension (Duodopa) permits continuous delivery into the small intestine using a portable pump This results in less variability in levodopa concentrations and fewer motor fluctuations and dyskinesias than with oral levodopa administration. This is a retrospective analysis of 65 patients looking at the long-term clinical experience with this agent. Total exposure to levodopa infusion was 216 patient-years (mean, 3.7 years).
Maximum treatment duration was 10.7 years. Fifty-two patients were treated for 1 year or longer. The adverse effect profile of levodopa/carbidopa infusion was similar to that observed with oral administration of levodopa. For most patients, the technical challenges posed by the enteral infusion system were offset by the improvement in motor fluctuations and dyskinesias offered by this technique.
To read abstract click here
