Valvular heart disease in patients with Parkinson's disease treated with pergolide.: Course following treatment modifications

Valvular heart abnormalities have been reported in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) treated with pergolide. However, the incidence and severity of these abnormalities vary from study to study and their course after drug withdrawal has not been systematically assessed. Objectives To estimate the frequency and severity of valvular heart abnormality and its possible reversibility after drug withdrawal in a case-control study. Methods All PD patients in the Amiens area treated with pergolide were invited to attend a cardiologic assessment including transthoracic echocardiography. Thirty PD patients participated in the study. A second echocardiography was performed (median interval: 13 months) after pergolide withdrawal (n = 10 patients). Controls were age- and sex-matched non-PD patients referred to the cardiology department. Results Compared to controls, aortic regurgitation (OR: 3.1; 95 % IC: 1.1-8.8) and mitral regurgitation (OR: 10.7; 95 % IC: 2.1-53) were more frequent in PD patients (tricuspid: NS). The number of affected valves (n = 2.4 +/- 0.7) and the sum of regurgitation grades (n = 2.8 +/- 1.09) were higher (p = 0.008 and p = 0.006, respectively) in the pergolide group. Severity of regurgitation was not correlated with pergolide cumulative dose. A restrictive pattern of valvular regurgitation, suggestive of the role of pergolide, was observed in 12/30 (40 %) patients including two with heart failure. Pergolide was discontinued in 10 patients with valvular heart disease, resulting in a lower regurgitation grade (p = 0.01) at the second transthoracic echocardiography and the two patients with heart failure returned to nearly normal clinical examination. This study supports the high frequency of restrictive valve regurgitation in PD patients treated with pergolide and reveals that a significant improvement is usual when the treatment is converted to non-ergot dopamine agonists.