Ten patients with Parkinson's disease and levodopa induced dyskinesias (LIDs) took part in this randomised, placebo controlled, double blind, crossover trial to assess the efficacy and tolerability of high dose oral naltrexone for LIDs in Parkinson's disease. Patients received naltrexone (5 mg/kg/day) or placebo for 2.5 weeks with 1 week wash out in between. Dyskinesias and motor function were ...

BACKGROUND In Japan, selegiline has been approved for combination therapy with levodopa for Parkinson disease (PD). We conducted a trial of selegiline monotherapy for early PD. METHODS In this 12-week controlled phase III trial, a total of 292 subjects were randomized to receive placebo (n = 146) (full analysis set 140) or selegiline (n = 146) (full analysis set 139). The primary outcome meas...

OBJECTIVE To assess the response to the rotigotine transdermal system (Neupro; Schwarz Pharma Ltd, Monheim, Germany), a nonergolinic dopamine agonist, in patients with early Parkinson disease. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled study. SETTING Fifty sites in the United States and Canada. PATIENTS Two hundred seventy-seven patients with early Parkinson disease....

We aimed to develop and validate a novel rating scale for multiple system atrophy (Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale-UMSARS). The scale comprises the following components: Part I, historical, 12 items; Part II, motor examination, 14 items; Part III, autonomic examination; and Part IV, global disability scale. For validation purposes, 40 MSA patients were assessed in four centers by 4...

BACKGROUND Long-duration response (LDR) to levodopa is supposed to decrease with Parkinson disease (PD) progression, but direct observation of this response in advanced PD has never been performed. OBJECTIVE To study the LDR to levodopa in patients with advanced PD treated with subthalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS). DESIGN AND SETTING We studied 30 consecutive patients with PD who underw...

OBJECTIVES To test the validity and feasibility of the generic 15D health related quality of life (HRQoL) instrument in Parkinson's disease (PD) and compare parkinsonian patients with the general population. Much effort has gone into developing disease specific HRQoL measures for PD, but only generic measures allow comparisons with the general population. New HRQoL tools are needed for PD becau...