Role, indications and controversies of levodopa administration in chronic stroke patients

Stroke leaves many patients disabled even after rehabilitative training, representing a major cause of disability. Several approaches to improve outcomes have been attempted in recent years, with only relative benefit. Emerging evidences show a potential role of pharmacological intervention to enhance motor recovery after stroke. Contrasting evidence are coming from experimental and clinical studies, so far, and pharmacological intervention during rehabilitation represents a major controversial in neurorehabilitation. Dopaminergic stimulation appears as one of the most promising way to improve motor recovery. Subject of this paper will be the ratio underlying the clinical use of levodopa in chronic stroke patients, trying to outline the most convincing evidences about a potential role of this drug in rehabilitative strategies.