Future standards in diagnosing Parkinson syndrome [Zukünftige Diagnosestandards beim Parkinson-Syndrom]

Reichmann H.
Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany

Abstract: So far, the diagnosis of an idiopathic Parkinsonsyndrome was based on the British Brain Bank Criteria, that is the occurrence of bradykinesia together with at least one more of the cardinal symptoms, i. e. resting tremor, rigidity or postural instability. The latter symptom is not useful, since it occurs only in the Hoehn and Yahr stage III which is seen in advanced PD patients. Thus, this symptom is certainly not useful for early diagnosis. Early signs for PD are hyposmia, constipation, REM sleep behaviour disorder and depression. Early diagnosis is still a clinical one, which can be supported by a levodopa test. It can be expected that in the near future gene chips will be available for patients with a positive family history for PD or with an early onset. As long as a blood test for PD is not available, methods such as SPECT and PET are extremely useful in patients with an unclear clinical symptomatology. In my own view, each PD patient should receive once in his career a cranial CT or MRI. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
Author Keywords: Early diagnosis; Hyposmia; Idiopathic Parkinsonsyndrome

Year: 2010
Source title: Fortschritte der Neurologie Psychiatrie
Volume: 78
Issue: SUPPL. 1
Page : S5-S7
Link: Scorpus Link
Document Type: Review
Source: Scopus
Authors with affiliations:

1. Reichmann, H., Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany

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