Pramipexole vs Levodopa as Initial Treatment for Parkinson Disease
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Open Access
- 1 July 2004
- journal article
- clinical trial
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of Neurology
- Vol. 61 (7) , 1044-1053
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.61.7.1044
Abstract
In 1996, the Parkinson Study Group initiated a multicenter randomized clinical trial comparing initial treatment of early Parkinson disease with pramipexole, a nonergot dopaminergic agonist,1 with initial treatment of early Parkinson disease with levodopa. A report detailing the methods and results of the first 2 years of this clinical trial has been previously published.2,3 After 2 years, initial pramipexole resulted in the significantly reduced risk of the development of wearing off, dyskinesias, or on-off motor fluctuations compared with levodopa (28% vs 51%). However, initial treatment with levodopa resulted in an early, and sustained, superior improvement in the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) total score compared with pramipexole (9.2 vs 4.5 points at 23.5 months). The clinical trial was extended to a minimum of 4 years to compare initial treatment with pramipexole with initial treatment with levodopa, with respect to the development and severity of dopaminergic complications, other adverse events, functional outcomes, and quality of life.Keywords
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