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Clinical Trial
. 2006 Dec;77(12):1367-9.
doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2006.091322. Epub 2006 Jul 17.

Ten steps to identify atypical parkinsonism

W F Abdo  1 , G F Borm, M Munneke, M M Verbeek, R A J Esselink, B R Bloem
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Ten steps to identify atypical parkinsonism

W F Abdo et al. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Balance impairment is a frequently encountered problem in patients with Parkinson's disease. A profound balance disorder, however, is an atypical feature.

Methods: Tandem gait performance (10 consecutive tandem steps) was judged in 36 consecutive patients with Parkinson's disease and 49 consecutive patients with atypical parkinsonism.

Results: Only 9 (18%) patients with atypical parkinsonism had a fully normal tandem gait (not a single side step) as opposed to 33 (92%) patients with Parkinson's disease. Analysis for the subgroup of patients with a disease duration of <3 years yielded the same diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusions: Tandem gait performance has a good diagnostic ability to differentiate patients with atypical parkinsonism from those with Parkinson's disease, and might be used as an additional "red flag" to assist existing clinical tests in identifying atypical parkinsonism.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None.

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