Neurológia pre prax 5/2014

Improving quality of life in advanced stage Parkinson's disease with intraduodenal levodopa infusions

Advanced stage of idiopathic Parkinson's disease is characterized particularly by motor fluctuations. These often cannot be controlled even when all the options of oral pharmacotherapy are utilized. One of the management options is then to use continuous intestinal L-DOPA infusions providing a more stable plasma concentration of L-DOPA. L-DOPA intestinal gel is administered by means of a portable pump and a tube that is inserted via percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy directly into the terminal part of the duodenum where L-DOPA is resorbed. The effect of this treatment and its benefit in terms of improving motor fluctuations and thus the quality of life is documented by the present case report of a 70-year-old man with advanced stage Parkinson's disease.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease, L-DOPA, intestinal L-DOPA infusion.