Yakhno N. N., Nodel M. R., Fedorova N. V., Levin O. S., Artemyev D. V., Smolentseva I. G., Kulua T. K.

The effectiveness and tolerability of stalevo in patients with Parkinson’s disease 

The article reports the results of an investigation aimed at the assessment of the effectiveness of the combined medicine Stalevo (levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone) administered to 30 patients with Parkinson’s disease complicated by "wearing off" phenomenon. The patients with "wearing off" phenomenon were switched from the standard therapy with levodopa/dopa decarboxylase inhibitor to Stalevo. Positive therapeutic effect was detected in 28 (94%) patients based on Global Clinical Impression Scale and other rating scales. Besides, there was significant improvement of motor function. The duration of day periods of reduced motor activity ("off-periods") reduced and the length of periods of optimal well-being ("on-periods") increased. The mean duration of the effect of each levodopa dosage lengthened by 40 minutes that was accompanied with the increase of total daily duration of "on-period" up to 2 hours. The degree of severity of daily motor disorders within "on-" and "off-periods" decreased. In the course of the analysis of the impact of the treatment on non-motor disturbances in patients with Parkinson’s disease a statistically significant improvement of sleep characteristics and short-term memory was detected. The most frequent adverse reactions were dyskinesia and nausea.