Dopamine agonist treatment of Tourette disorder in children: results of an open-label trial of pergolide.
This exploratory study was meant to determine the effect of the dopamine (DA) agonist pergolide on Gilles de la Tourette syndrome ( GTS) in children and adolescents and to ascertain correlates of pergolide response. Thirty-two outpatients, aged 7-19 years, were systemically assessed in a neuropsychiatric clinic for the presence of GTS and comorbid disorders. After a 6-week open-label, fixed-flexible dosing schedule, response to pergolide on standard GTS severity outcome measures was assessed. Overall, 75% of patients (24/32) had a > 50% drop in their tic severity rating from baseline with a mean treatment dosage of 177 +/- 61 micrograms/day. Highly significant (p = 0.0001) baseline to week 6 differences were demonstrated in all tic symptom measures. The presence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) comorbidity (59%) was highly associated with a positive response. These results suggest DA agonism as a strategy, and pergolide in particular, may be a practical form of therapy for GTS. Response predictors of patient comorbid RLS argue for its further study with regard to GTS.[1]References
- Dopamine agonist treatment of Tourette disorder in children: results of an open-label trial of pergolide. Lipinski, J.F., Sallee, F.R., Jackson, C., Sethuraman, G. Mov. Disord. (1997) [Pubmed]
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