Parkinsonism & related disorders
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Oct 2016
Phenotypic differences based on staging of Alzheimer's neuropathology in autopsy-confirmed dementia with Lewy bodies.
The goal was to compare subgroups of dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) using neuropathological measures to differentiate 'pure' Lewy body (LB) dementia from 'mixed' DLB [co-occurring LB and Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology] to facilitate diagnostic decision-making and future development of interventions based on predicted type(s) of neuropathology. Studies comparing these groups are rare relative to those differentiating 'pure' AD and all-cause DLB, and are limited by insufficient sample size, brief cognitive batteries, and/or absence of autopsy confirmation. To address these limitations, we assessed cognition and other features in a large, autopsy-confirmed DLB sample using an extensive neuropsychological battery. ⋯ Salient findings included greater impairment on visual tasks and speed of processing and more frequent reports of all-type hallucinations in DLB-LB compared to DLB-AD. Relatively intact confrontation naming in DLB-LB and no differences in reported delusions were of note. Identifying differences in phenotypic features can improve prediction of underlying neuropathology.
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Parkinsonism Relat. Disord. · Oct 2016
Neuroanatomical changes extend beyond striatal atrophy in X-linked dystonia parkinsonism.
X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP) is an inherited neurodegenerative adult-onset basal ganglia model disease associated with severe striatal atrophy. Anatomical changes exceeding striatal pathology were not yet described in XDP. The present study aimed to assess the microstructure of white matter tracts in XDP using magnetic resonance tomography. ⋯ The present study confirms striatal atrophy in XDP and provides evidence for a strong involvement of the white matter and the pallidum. This calls into question the previously held concept of exclusive striatal atrophy in this unique movement disorder. The spared occipital region may point towards a lack of anatomical connections with the atrophied striatum.