Summary
Four youngsters, between the ages of 13–27 years, presented dystonic foot. Two to three years following the appearance of the dystonic foot, cogwheel rigidity and tremor appeared on the dystonic foot side. Treatment with low doses of levodopa/carbidopa consistently reversed the symptoms.
“On-off” phenomena appeared in the first years of treatment and persisted for the entire period of 5 to 15 years of illness. No parkinsonian signs were present when the dystonic foot appeared. Based on our observations and on a review of the literature, we conclude that responsiveness to low doses of L-dopa is the major maker of juvenile Parkinson's disease.
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Askenasy, J.J.M., Mendelson, L., Keren, O. et al. Juvenile Parkinson's disease and its response to L-dopa therapy. J Neural Transm Gen Sect 2, 23–30 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02251243
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02251243