Drug-Related Polyarthralgias with Levodopa-Carbidopa

This case report characterizes the clinical course of a 79-year-old man with idiopathic Parkinson disease who developed polyarthralgia following commencement of levodopa-carbidopa therapy, resolution of the polyarthralgia with discontinuation of it, and subsequent reappearance of polyarthralgia when the medication was restarted. The time-locked relationship between polyarthralgia and levodopa-carbidopa treatment suggests that this is an adverse drug reaction. The possible pathophysiologic basis of this unusual reaction is discussed.