Apomorphine for the acute treatment of "off" episodes in Parkinson's disease.

Author(s): Stacy M, Silver D

Affiliation(s): Division of Neurology, Duke University, 932 Morreene Road, MS 3333, Durham, NC27705, USA. mark.stacy@duke.edu <mark.stacy@duke.edu>

Publication date & source: 2008, Parkinsonism Relat Disord., 14(2):85-92. Epub 2007 Dec 21.

Publication type: Review

Many patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) experience motor complications, which negatively impact quality of life, despite optimized oral therapy. It is important for patients to have a treatment option that may provide rapid relief from "off" episodes. In three pivotal, randomized, placebo-controlled trials, subcutaneous apomorphine was effective in acutely treating "off" episodes, significantly improving Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale motor scores and reducing the number of "off" hours per day, with a significantly shorter time to patient-declared onset of relief than placebo. Thus, clinical trial data support the efficacy of intermittent subcutaneous apomorphine as a rapid acute treatment for "off" episodes in advanced PD.