Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Case Study
  • Published:

A case of levodopa-responsive camptocormia associated with advanced Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Background A 48-year-old man with a 9-year history of Parkinson's disease who had previously shown a good response to levodopa presented for evaluation of increasingly disabling motor fluctuations and marked camptocormia.

Investigations Video-recorded neurological examinations when in 'off' and 'on' states, brain MRI scan.

Diagnosis Advanced Parkinson's disease complicated by levodopa-responsive camptocormia.

Management Adjustment of dopaminergic therapy (carbidopa–levodopa and entacapone) to minimize motor fluctuations and camptocormia.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Camptocormia in Parkinson's disease

References

  1. Albanese A (2003) Diagnostic criteria for Parkinson's disease. Neurol Sci 24 (Suppl 1): S23–S26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Paulson H and Stern M (2004) Clinical manifestations of Parkinson's disease. In Movement Disorders: Neurologic Principles and Practice, edn 2, 233–246 (Eds Watts RL and Koller WC) New York: McGraw–Hill

    Google Scholar 

  3. Lepoutre AC et al. (2006) A specific clinical pattern of camptocormia in Parkinson's disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 77: 1229–1234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Azher SN and Jankovic J (2005) Camptocormia: pathogenesis, classification, and response to therapy. Neurology 65: 355–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Djaldetti R et al. (1999) Camptocormia (bent spine) in patients with Parkinson's disease—characterization and possible pathogenesis of an unusual phenomenon. Mov Disord 14: 443–447

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Melamed E and Djaldetti R (2006) Camptocormia in Parkinson's disease. J Neurol 253 (Suppl 7): Svii14–Svii16

    Google Scholar 

  7. Sethi K (2003) Differential diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. In Handbook of Parkinson's Disease, edn 3, 43–70 (Eds Pahwa R et al.) New York: Marcel Dekker

    Google Scholar 

  8. Van Gerpen JA (2001) Camptocormia secondary to early amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Mov Disord 16: 358–360

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Zwecker M et al. (1998) Camptocormia: a case of possible paraneoplastic aetiology. Clin Rehabil 12: 157–160

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kiuru S and Iivanainen M (1987) Camptocormia, a new side effect of sodium valproate. Epilepsy Res 1: 254–257

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Schabitz WR et al. (2003) Severe forward flexion of the trunk in Parkinson's disease: focal myopathy of the paraspinal muscles mimicking camptocormia. Mov Disord 18: 408–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Horstink M et al. (2006) Review of the therapeutic management of Parkinson's disease. Report of a joint task force of the European Federation of Neurological Societies and the Movement Disorder Society-European Section. Part I: early (uncomplicated) Parkinson's disease. Eur J Neurol 13: 1170–1185

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Watts RL et al. (2007) Randomized, blind, controlled trial of transdermal rotigotine in early Parkinson disease. Neurology 68: 272–276

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lang AE et al. (2006) Deep brain stimulation: preoperative issues. Mov Disord 21 (Suppl 14): S171–S196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Yamada K et al. (2006) Alleviation of camptocormia by bilateral subthalamic stimulation in a patient with Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 12: 372–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Hellmann H et al. (2006) Effect of deep brain subthalamic stimulation on camptocormia and postural abnormalities in idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord 21: 2008–2010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Micheli F et al. (2005) Camptocormia in a patient with Parkinson disease: beneficial effects of pallidal deep brain stimulation. Case report. J Neurosurg 103: 1081–1083

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The patient is thanked for allowing publication of the photographs and supplementary online material, for which the patient's written consent was obtained.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kapil D Sethi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

B Ho and R Prakash declared no competing interests.

KD Sethi has received speaker's or consultancy fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Schwarz Pharma and Valeant, and has received research support from Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Solvay, and Eisai.

JC Morgan has received speaker's or consultancy fees and research support from: Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, and has received consultancy fees from Vernalis.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ho, B., Prakash, R., Morgan, J. et al. A case of levodopa-responsive camptocormia associated with advanced Parkinson's disease. Nat Rev Neurol 3, 526–530 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneuro0584

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneuro0584

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing