Keeping up with the clinical advances: tardive dyskinesia.

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) was first described in 1964, but treatment for this sometimes poorly characterized condition lagged decades as it was labored by medico-legal implications. TD has often been lumped with other medication-induced disorders and incorrectly classified as extrapyramidal symptoms. TD is likely to be under-recognized for many of these reasons. Though diverse in its presentations, TD is distinct in terms of time course, pathophysiology, and phenomenology.

The role of extended-release amantadine for the treatment of dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease patients.

Levodopa is the most efficacious treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). Long-term treatment with levodopa is limited due to dyskinesia. Dyskinesia in PD can be socially and functionally disabling. Extended-release amantadine (amantadine ER) is the first approved medication for the treatment of dyskinesia. When it is given at bedtime, it reaches plasma concentration approximately twice the level achieved by amantadine immediate release. Amantadine ER reduces the severity and duration of dyskinesia during the day, reduces OFF time and increases ON time without troublesome dyskinesia. The most common side effects are hallucination, dizziness, orthostatic hypotension and pedal edema. This review discusses the safety and efficacy of amantadine ER in dyskinesia in PD patients.