New aspects in the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Four dopamine-agonists, two calechol-o-methyltransferase-inhibitors, budipi ne, a dispersible levodopa preparation and deep brain stimulation enriched the armamentarium for Parkinson's disease treatment between the years 1995- 1998 in Germany. Amantadine goes through a renaissance as it was shown to b e effective in levodopa induced dyskinesias. Deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus and internal globus pallidus is emerging as a new treat ment strategy for patients with severe on-off fluctuations and levodopa dys kinesias while the original target for tremor-suppression, VIM thalamic nuc leus, is used less frequently in Parkinson's disease. The introduction of t hese new therapeutic options has widened the scope and increased the comple xities of Parkinson's disease treatment.