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Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is known to be present even in patients with early Parkinson’s disease (PD). To affirm the presence of OH and find correlation between OH and other dysautonomic symptoms in PD, this study has done in newly-diagnosed PD patients.
Forty-five non-demented patients with no prior history of treatment for PD were recruited (17 men, 63.8 ± 10.1 years of age). All the patients were evaluated for OH before starting medications. Autonomic symptoms were evaluated with structured questionnaires. Clinical characteristics of PD were evaluated (median Hoehn and Yahr stage 2.0 (1–3), 1.3 ± 1.1 years of disease duration), and comorbid medical conditions that could affect blood pressure were also recorded.
OH was prevalent, and eighteen patients (40%) showed orthostatic hypotension, and twenty-seven (60%) did not (normotensive group). There was no significant difference in demographic and clinical characteristics between groups. The presence or severity of symptoms of autonomic dysfunction in the OH group also not differed from those of the normotensive group.
OH was prevalent even in the early stage of PD, and was not related to presence or severity of any other symptoms of autonomic dysfunction. Our findings suggest that clinicians should pay attention to OH from the early stage of disease.
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Symptoms of autonomic dysfunctions are common in the patients with parkinsonian disorders. Because clinical features of autonomic dysfunctions are diverse, the comprehensive evaluation is essential for the appropriate management. For the appreciation of autonomic dysfunctions and the identification of differences, patients with degenerative parkinsonisms are evaluated using structured questionnaire for autonomic dysfunction (ADQ).
Total 259 patients, including 192 patients with [idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (IPD, age 64.6 ± 9.6 years)], 37 with [multiple system atrophy (MSA, 62.8 ± 9.1)], 9 with [dementia with Lewy body (DLB, 73.9 ± 4.3)], and 21 with [progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP, 69.4 ± 9.6)]. The ADQ was structured for evaluation of the presence of symptoms and its severity due to autonomic dysfunction, covering gastrointestinal, urinary, sexual, cardiovascular and thermoregulatory domains. Patients were also evaluated for the orthostatic hypotension.
Although dementia with Lewy body (DLB) patients were oldest and duration of disease was longest in IPD, total ADQ scores of MSA and PSP (23.9 ± 12.6 and 21.1 ± 7.8) were significantly increased than that of IPD (15.1 ± 10.6). Urinary and cardiovascular symptom scores of MSA and gastrointestinal symptom score of PSP were significantly worse than those of IPD. The ratio of patient with orthostatic hypotension in IPD was 31.2% and not differed between groups (35.1% in MSA, 33.3% in DLB and 33.3% in PSP). But the systolic blood pressure dropped drastically after standing in patients with MSA and DLB than in patients with IPD and PSP.
Patients with degenerative parkinsonism showed widespread symptoms of autonomic dysfunctions. The severity of those symptoms in patients with PSP were comparing to that of MSA patients and worse than that of IPD.
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To investigate the relationship between presenting clinical manifestations and imaging features of multisystem neuronal dysfunction in MSA patients, using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET).
We studied 50 consecutive MSA patients with characteristic brain MRI findings of MSA, including 34 patients with early MSA-parkinsonian (MSA-P) and 16 with early MSA-cerebellar (MSA-C). The cerebral glucose metabolism of all MSA patients was evaluated in comparison with 25 age-matched controls. 18F-FDG PET results were assessed by the Statistic Parametric Mapping (SPM) analysis and the regions of interest (ROI) method.
The mean time from disease onset to 18F-FDG PET was 25.9±13.0 months in 34 MSA-P patients and 20.1±11.1 months in 16 MSA-C patients. Glucose metabolism of the putamen showed a greater decrease in possible MSA-P than in probable MSA-P (
Our results may suggest that the early neuropathological pattern of possible MSA with a predilection for the striatonigral or olivopontocerebellar system differs from that of probable MSA, which has prominent involvement of the autonomic nervous system in addition to the striatonigral or olivopontocerebellar system.
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