Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Rating scales for dystonia: a multicenter assessment.
The evaluation of dystonia requires a reliable rating scale. The widely used Fahn-Marsden Scale (F-M) has not been sufficiently tested across multiple centers and investigators. The Dystonia Study Group developed the Unified Dystonia Rating Scale (UDRS) and a Global Dystonia Rating Scale (GDS) to serve as instruments to assess dystonia severity. ⋯ Among scales, the total scores correlated (Pearson's r, 0.977-0.983). Overall, 74% of raters found the GDS the easiest to apply. The GDS with its simplicity and ease of application may be the most useful dystonia rating scale.
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Although current knowledge attributes movement disorders to a dysfunction of the basal ganglia-motor cortex circuits, abnormalities in the peripheral afferent inputs or in their central processing may interfere with motor program execution. We review the abnormalities of sensorimotor integration described in the various types of movement disorders. Several observations, including those of parkinsonian patients' excessive reliance on ongoing visual information during movement tasks, suggest that proprioception is defective in Parkinson's disease (PD). ⋯ Some neurophysiological studies suggest that an altered "gating" mechanism also underlies the development of tics. This review underlines the importance of abnormal sensorimotor integration in the pathophysiology of movement disorders. Although the physiological mechanism remains unclear, the defect is of special clinical relevance in determining the development of focal dystonia.