[Are anticholinergics indispensable in the long-term therapy of neuroleptic-induced Parkinson syndrome? A withdrawal study (author's transl)].

53 patients with a neuroleptic-induced parkinson syndrome were suddenly withdrawn from their antiparkinson medication without changes in neuroleptic medication. All but 10 patients had been given antiparkinson drugs for more than 1 year. Slight and constant deterioration in their condition occurred in 4 female patients within 1-3 weeks following withdrawal. The neuroleptic dose was increased in 7 patients, a slight transient deterioration of the parkinson symptoms occurring in 2 cases. Investigation into the longitudinal course of the disease revealed that the intensity of symptoms is not always steady, but that certain variations occur. Our results confirm similar available studies in that the incidence of relapses in cases of neuroleptically conditioned Parkinson's disease is very low in patients with anti-parkinson medication for long period; this incidence of relapses amounts to 8% in our study.