Pharmacological therapy in progressive supranuclear palsy.

BACKGROUND

To our knowledge, previous reports on drug treatment in progressive supranuclear palsy have not evaluated autopsy-confirmed cases.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate pharmacological treatment responses from detailed clinical records in patients with autopsy-confirmed progressive supranuclear palsy.

METHODS

We reviewed medical records for clinical presentation and pharmacological response in 12 patients with autopsy-confirmed progressive supranuclear palsy diagnosed using the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke pathologic criteria. For each drug class, exposure, global positive response, and specific positive response (parkinsonism, other movement disorders, or gaze dysfunction) were recorded.

RESULTS

Drug classes examined were dopaminergics (all patients), tricyclics (3 patients), methysergide maleate (3 patients), 5-hydroxytryptophan (2 patients), and anticholinergics and selective serotonin inhibitors (1 patient). Positive clinical response was detected in 7 of the patients receiving dopaminergic drugs and in 1 patient each receiving tricyclics, methysergide, and 5-hydroxytryptophan, respectively. None of the patients responded markedly however, and there was no persistent beneficial effect. Use of dopaminergic drugs most frequently improved parkinsonian features, but disabling adverse effects included orthostatic hypotension (6 patients), hallucinations and delusions (3 patients), gastrointestinal complaints (3 patients), and dizziness (1 patient). Only 1 patient developed dyskinesia.

CONCLUSIONS

Use of antiparkinsonian medications and other neurotransmitter replacement therapies was largely ineffective and caused frequent adverse effects in this series of patients with autopsy-confirmed with progressive supranuclear palsy.