Exogenous levodopa is not toxic to elderly subjects with non-parkinsonian movement disorders: further clinical evidence

We report three women between 80 and 87 years of age who had longstanding e ssential tremor. Due to an erroneous diagnosis of Parkinsonism they had rec eived levodopa preparations for 13, 16 and 25 years, respectively, with cum ulative levodopa equivalent doses of 18.0, 9.0, and 4.1kg. The patients sho wed neither dyskinesias nor signs of Parkinsonism. These observations do no t support a detrimental role of chronic levodopa exposure in elderly indivi duals with essential tremor.