Abstract

Aim: To report the case of a patient, who in the context of an anti-Parkinsonian therapy, developed addiction to apomorphine. Methods: Clinical case description. Results: Apomorphine is a dopaminergic agonist that acts directly on D2 receptors. It has been used in alcoholism, male sexual dysfunction and with diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in Parkinson's disease (PD). Conclusions: The present work describes the case of a woman with PD who developed a loss of control over the consumption of apomorphine that resulted in a significant impairment of her functioning. PD patients with high frequency develop different psychiatric symptoms. Conversely, anti-Parkinsonian drugs also generate psychiatric symptoms that can be experienced by the patient as pleasant sensations ('alerting', 'awakening', 'activating', hypomania and hypersexuality). In spite of this, addiction to these drugs in patients with PD is a very rare phenomenon. Currently, the prescription of apomorphine has been extended to patients with erectile dysfunction, which may increase the prevalence of addiction cases or of severe psychiatric symptoms. © 2006 The Authors.