Botulinum toxin for sialorrhea in ALS and Parkinson’s disease.

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled Botulinum toxin B ultrasound-guided injections for sialorrhea in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. (Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2007 Jul;13(5):299-303. ). Authors are Contarino MF Pompili M Tittoto P et al., from the Istituto di Neurologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy. Sialorrhea is frequent and invalidating in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Parkinson’s disease (PD). Botulinum toxin (BTX) emerged as an alternative to traditional treatments. We evaluated efficacy and tolerability of ultrasound-guided BTX-B injections in parotids and submandibular glands in 18 patients with ALS or PD.BTX-B seems efficacious in reducing sialorrhea in ALS and PD but the risk-benefit ratio might differ between these two conditions. This might have implications for clinical practice. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.