Selegiline in the treatment of Parkinson's disease: its impact on orthostatic hypotension.

Abstract Less than a consensus exists as to whether chronic treatment with selegiline in combination with levodopa/carbidopa in patients with Parkinson's disease, is associated with more pronounced orthostatic hypotension than treatment with levodopa/carbidopa alone. To resolve this issue, we compared orthostatic tolerance and autonomic reflexes in 95 patients with Parkinson's disease treated chronically with either selegiline alone ( n =10), levodopa/carbidopa alone ( n =49) or both agents combined ( n =36). Supine heart rate and blood pressure, autonomic cardiovascular reflexes and the frequency and magnitude of orthostatic hypotension were similar in all three treatment groups.