ROPINIROLE IN THE TREATMENT OF EARLY PARKINSONS-DISEASE - A 6-MONTH INTERIM-REPORT OF A 5-YEAR LEVODOPA-CONTROLLED STUDY

The efficacies of ropinirole and levodopa were compared after 6 months of treatment in a planned interim analysis of a 5-year, double-blind, randomized, multicenter study of patients with early Parkinson's dise ase requiring dopaminergic therapy. The percentage of improvement in t he Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale total motor examination sc ore was significantly higher for levodopa (44%) than for ropinirole (3 2%). The proportion of ''responders'' (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rat ing Scale improvement of at least 30%) did not differ between groups ( levodopa, 58%; ropinirole, 48%). There was no difference between the g roups for improvement on the Clinical Global Impression scale in patie nts with Hoehn and Yahr stages I, I.5, or II, but a significantly high er proportion of patients with Hoehn and Yahr stages II.5 or III showe d Clinical Global Impression score improvement with levodopa. Emergent adverse events occurred in 84% of patients in both treatment groups, the principal symptom in each group being nausea. The incidence of ser ious adverse events was low (8% for ropinirole, 9% for levodopa). The results suggest that ropinirole and levodopa are equally effective in less severe Parkinson's disease; in more advanced Parkinson's disease, levodopa is superior.