Levodopa infusion in Parkinson's disease: Individual quality of life.

OBJECTIVES: Parkinson's disease (PD) features both motor and non-motor symptoms that substantially impact quality of life (QoL). Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) reduces motor complications and improves some non-motor symptoms in advanced PD (APD). Change in patients' health-related quality of life (hrQoL) is a common endpoint in PD trials and has become an important factor in judging overall effect of LCIG. However, hrQoL is considered to be only one dimension of QoL. The primary aim of this prospective observational study was to observe the effects of LCIG on individual quality of life (iQoL) in PD and caregivers. The secondary aim was to investigate its effects on patients' motor and non-motor symptoms as well as effects on caregiver burden. MATERIALS & METHODS: Utilizing the Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life-Questionnaire (SEIQoL-Q) and the Personal Wellbeing Index-Adult (PWI-A), twelve patients with advanced PD and their caregivers were followed for six months after initiation of LCIG treatment. RESULTS: At the final follow-up, improvements of iQoL for patients (median SEIQoL index improvement 0.16, P < .05) and caregivers (median SEIQoL index improvement 0.20, P < .05) were seen together with improvements of motor and non-motor symptoms. There were no significant improvements of hrQoL. CONCLUSIONS: The study results indicate that LCIG improves iQoL in PD in addition to the improvement of motor and non-motor symptoms. Furthermore, this study signals that LCIG may also contribute to improvement of iQoL in caregivers.

[Practical use of continuous apomorphine infusion via pump]. / Praktische Anwendung der kontinuierlichen Apomorphin-Pumpentherapie.

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative illness after Alzheimer's disease. In its advanced stages, it is characterized by various special symptoms. In addition to non-motor signs, motor complications are most prominent and most often can only be inadequately improved with pulsatile oral therapies. However, with the aid of continuous dopaminergic stimulation, improvements can be achieved even in advanced stages of the disease. This will not only alleviate motor and non-motor symptoms, but will also lead to a better quality of life. In this context, continuous subcutaneous apomorphine administration by means of a pump has been well established. Its benefits, indications, limitations and practical implementation will be thoroughly described in the expert recommendation. Particularly noteworthy is the rather broad therapeutic window of apomorphine pump treatment, which can be optimally utilized by simple drug titration in a rapidly reversible process. This article presents the results of an expert meeting on apomorphine therapy which took place on July 6, 2016, in Frankfurt (M), Germany.

Intrajejunal levodopa infusion in Parkinson's disease: a pilot multicenter study of effects on nonmotor symptoms and quality of life.

Switching from oral medications to continuous infusion of levodopa/carbidopa gel reduces motor complications in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD), but effects on nonmotor symptoms (NMSs) are unknown. In this prospective open-label observational study, we report the effects of intrajejunal levodopa/carbidopa gel infusion on NMS in PD based on standard assessments utilizing the nonmotor symptoms scale (NMSS) along with the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS 3 motor and 4 complications) and quality of life (QoL) using the Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ-8). Twenty-two advanced PD patients (mean age 58.6 years, duration of disease 15.3 years) were followed for 6 months. A statistically significant beneficial effect was shown in six of the nine domains of the NMSS: cardiovascular, sleep/fatigue, attention/memory, gastrointestinal, urinary, and miscellaneous (including pain and dribbling) and for the total score of this scale (NMSST) paralleling improvement of motor symptoms (UPDRS 3 motor and 4 complications in "best on" state) and dyskinesias/motor fluctuations. In addition, significant improvements were found using the Parkinson's disease sleep scale (PDSS) and the PDQ-8 (QoL). The improvement in PDQ-8 scores correlated highly significantly with the changes in NMSST, whereas a moderately strong correlation was observed with UPDRS changes. This is the first demonstration that a levodopa-based continuous dopaminergic stimulation is beneficial for NMS and health-related quality of life in PD in addition to the reduction of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias.

[Klüver-Bucy syndrome after herpes simplex encephalitis]. / Klüver-Bucy-Syndrom nach Herpes-simplex-Enzephalitis.

We present the case of an 18-year-old women with Klüver-Bucy syndrome as sequela of Herpes simplex encephalitis. The symptomatology remitted partly under treatment with carbamazepine.