Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society
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Parkinson's disease (PD) is mainly characterized by its motor manifestations, but it is also frequently associated with dementia. Early diagnosis of PD dementia (PDD) is particularly important because effective cholinesterase inhibitor treatments are available. This study aimed at validating a short procedure for screening for PDD in routine clinical practice and which adopts recently published diagnostic criteria. ⋯ The short battery's sensitivity and specificity were 65.85% (95% CI = 49.41-79.92%) and 94.56% (95% CI = 89.56-97.62%), respectively. A stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that use of a specific cut-off considerably enhanced the short battery's sensitivity (85.37%, 95% CI = 70.83-94.43%) without decreasing its specificity (83.67%, 95% CI = 76.69-89.25%). With an easy-to-use, short battery of tests that are commonly used in routine clinical practice, it is possible to diagnose PDD in accordance with reference criteria and with the same sensitivity and specificity as in a more extensive evaluation.
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We performed a cross-sectional study of 82 Chinese patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) enrolled during an 18-month period using a clinical interview to assess the prevalence of nonmotor symptoms (NMS), the association with disease severity and motor status, and the impact on patients' health-related quality of life (Hr-QoL). The patients' NMS, Hr-QoL, disease severity, and motor status were assessed by the Nonmotor Symptoms Scale (NMSS), the 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), the modified Hoehn and Yahr staging scale (H&Y) and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III (UPDRS III), respectively. We found that 100% of patients with PD presented with NMS. ⋯ This strongly suggested that the five domains played a key role in the manifestation of Hr-QoL. NMSS explains more of the variability in Hr-QoL than UPDRS III, when both are the model (stepwise multiple linear regression analysis R² change, 47.8% vs. 5.87%, respectively). Therefore, these findings demonstrate that NMS are independently and negatively associated with Hr-QoL in PD and that improving NMS should be viewed as an important part in the management of PD.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of orally dissolving carbidopa/levodopa (Parcopa) to conventional oral carbidopa/levodopa: A single-dose, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, crossover trial.
Levodopa use in fluctuating Parkinson's disease (PD) is complicated by an inconsistent and prolonged onset to clinical improvement. An orally dissolved carbidopa/levodopa (OD C/L) preparation (Parcopa UCB Pharma) is available in the United States. This offers potential advantages to shorten the duration from ingestion to clinical improvement. ⋯ However, all trends did favor OD C/L. Adverse events were similar. This small pilot study did not show significant group differences favoring OD C/L; however, larger studies may be justified, and individual patients may benefit.
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Clinical Trial
Tolerability of isradipine in early Parkinson's disease: a pilot dose escalation study.
Recent data suggests that isradipine, a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, is neuroprotective in preclinical models of parkinsonism. Isradipine has not been systematically studied in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of this study was to evaluate safety and tolerability of isradipine controlled release (CR) in patients with early PD. ⋯ Isradipine had no significant effect on blood pressure or PD motor disability. The two most common reasons for dose reduction were leg edema (7) and dizziness (3). There was no difference in isradipine tolerability between subjects with and without dopaminergic treatment, or with and without hypertension.
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We used electroencephalography (EEG)-polygraphic recordings to classify myoclonus in 109 patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) on the basis of its electromyography (EMG) pattern, time course, distribution, and EEG correlates. We recorded myoclonic jerks in 55 patients (50.4%), and we classified them as periodic myoclonus in 28, rhythmic in 13, and irregular in 20 (6 patients showed two types of myoclonus). Myoclonus occurred as a prominently negative event (interrupting the EMG discharge) in 10. ⋯ The presence of enlarged somatosensory evoked potentials significantly correlated with the myoclonic presentation, as did MR signal hyperintensity involving the cortical mantle. Our observations on the basis of standard polygraphic criteria suggest that CJD associates with a remarkable variety of myoclonic jerks, and therefore different brain structures are probably involved as generators. The significant association between the presence of all myoclonus types with PSWCs suggests that hyperexcitable corticosubcortical loops are always required to generate (or allow) both myoclonus and the EEG complexes, either they are time locked or not.