Apomorphine--test in dystonia.

In a doubleblind, placebocontrolled design subcutaneous apomorphine was given to 7 patients with dystonic movement disorders to assess dopamine sensitivity of their symptoms. Five patients who displayed a marked clinical improvement after the apomorphine test injections subsequently responded to oral or continuous dopaminergic therapy. The effective apomorphine doses correlated with the doses of dopaminergic drugs. Two non-responders to apomorphine did not benefit from dopaminergic therapy. Apomorphine application thus seems to be a valuable test predicting dopamine sensitivity in dystonia.