Dopaminergic therapy in acute encephalitis lethargica

We describe a patient with an acute illness, with clinical features charact eristic of encephalitis lethargica, who responded repeatedly to trials of a n apomorphine infusion and subsequently to oral levodopa therapy This obser vation implies a direct acute neurotropic effect of the encephalitis on nig ral dopaminergic cells. Dopaminergic medication may therefore be helpful in the acute stage of encephalitis lethargica as well as in the delayed post- encephalitic parkinsonian phase of the syndrome. Eur J Neurol 6:235-237 (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.