Weight Loss in Parkinson's Disease: The Relationship with Motor Symptoms and Disease Progression.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of weight loss (WL) in PD patients, its relationship to the severity of motor manifestations and appetite changes. METHODS: 144 PD patients and 120 controls were evaluated in a single session. All subjects were asked about changes in body weight and appetite. PD patients were examined with the UPDRS-III and the Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scales. Subscores of tremor, bradykinesia /rigidity, and non-dopaminergic symptoms (NDS) were analyzed individually. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine an association between WL and PD motor manifestations. RESULTS: 48.6 % of PD patients presented WL compared to 20.8 % of controls (p < 0.001). Weight losers were significantly older and had longer disease duration, higher scores in HY stages, UPDRS-III, and NDS-subscore. Multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated that WL was associated with NDS-subscore (p= 0.002; OR: 1.33) and older age (p= 0.037; OR: 1.05). Appetite in PD cases losing weight was unchanged (35.7 %), decreased (31.4 %), or even increased (32.9). CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that WL occurs in almost half of PD patients and it is largely the consequence of disease progression rather than involuntary movements or a decrease in food intake.

Piribedil and pathological gambling in six parkinsonian patients.

UNLABELLED: Impulse control disorders (ICD) in Parkinson's disease (PD) have attracted increasing interest. They are characterized by the inability to control the impulse to perform an act that can be detrimental to them or to others. Although dopamine agonists (DA), as a group, have been associated with impulse control disorders (ICD), piribedil has rarely been reported to cause them. METHOD: Case reports of six parkinsonian patients on piribedil presenting pathological gambling (PG). RESULTS: All of the patients presented ICD associated with piribedil use. Two of them received this medication as first treatment and four of them who had developed ICDs secondary to other DA that reappeared with piribedil. CONCLUSION: Despite piribedil is commercially available in only a few countries, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of PG in patients with PD.

Writing tremor secondary to ischemic stroke: a report on a case with a remarkable response to topiramate.

UNLABELLED: Writing tremor (WT) is a task-specific tremor that occurs only or mostly while writing with the dominant hand. Secondary cases are extremely uncommon. We report on a patient who, after developing a WT after an ischemic stroke, had a remarkable response to topiramate (TPM). CASE: A 65-year-old right-handed man with a history of arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, and coronary heart disease presented dizziness and headache followed by a loss of consciousness and then a right hemiparesis. He regained his strength on the fifth day. Fourteen days after stroke, he developed a WT as well as other complications with activities such as welding (he is a welder) and using a spoon. He was treated with 50 mg/d of TPM with marked improvement in WT. A few weeks after TPM was discontinued, the WT symptoms reappeared and he was retreated, showing the same beneficial reaction.Electromyographic record showed a 5- to 6-Hz tremor in his right hand, and a magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral small frontoparietal subcortical infarcts. CONCLUSIONS: Primary WT pathophysiology is not well known, and secondary WT as a result of stroke is even less considered. Although patients with essential tremor benefit with TPM and WT could be a variant of essential tremor, we used TPM with our patient and there was a marked benefit.

Piribedil and Pathological Gambling in six Parkinsonian patients / Piribedil e Jogo Patológico em seis pacientes parkinsonianos

Impulse control disorders (ICD) in Parkinson's disease (PD) have attracted increasing interest. They are characterized by the inability to control the impulse to perform an act that can be detrimental to them or to others. Although dopamine agonists (DA), as a group, have been associated with impulse control disorders (ICD), piribedil has rarely been reported to cause them. Method Case reports of six parkinsonian patients on piribedil presenting pathological gambling (PG). Results All of the patients presented ICD associated with piribedil use. Two of them received this medication as first treatment and four of them who had developed ICDs secondary to other DA that reappeared with piribedil. Conclusion Despite piribedil is commercially available in only a few countries, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of PG in patients with PD. .

Os distúrbios do controle do impulso (DCI) na doença de Parkinson (DP) têm atraído crescente interesse. Eles são caracterizados pela incapacidade da pessoa em controlar o impulso para realizar um ato que pode ser prejudicial a ela própria ou aos outros. Embora os agonistas dopaminérgicos (AD), como um grupo, têm sido associados com distúrbios do controle do impulso, o piribedil tem sido relatado raramente como causa dos mesmos. Método Relatos de seis casos de pacientes parkinsonianos em uso de piribedil apresentando jogo patológico (JP). Resultados Todos os pacientes apresentaram DCI com o uso do piribedil. Dois deles receberam piribedil como primeiro tratamento e quatro deles que haviam desenvolvido DCI devido a outro AD, reapresentaram o quadro com piribedil. Conclusão Apesar de o piribedil estar disponível comercialmente apenas em alguns países, deveria ser considerado no diagnóstico diferencial de JP em pacientes com DP. .

Gastrointestinal manifestations in Parkinson's disease: prevalence and occurrence before motor symptoms.

To assess the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms (GIS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) compared to control subjects and their timing of appearance in relationship to the onset of motor symptoms. There is a rostrocaudal gradient of alpha-synuclein (α-SYN) neuropathology in the enteric nervous system at early stages of PD with higher burden in the upper than the lower gut. However, only constipation has been recognized as a premotor gastrointestinal manifestation of PD. 129 PD patients and 120 controls underwent a structured questionnaire to assess the presence of GIS and, in PD patients, the time of their appearance respect to the onset of motor manifestations. GIS significantly more prevalent in PD patients were dry mouth, drooling, dysphagia, constipation and defecatory dysfunction. Constipation and defecatory dysfunction preceded motor manifestations. Whereas gastroparesis symptoms preceded motor manifestations, their prevalence was not significantly different from controls. Despite evidence of a higher α-SYN burden in the upper gut, only constipation and defecatory dysfunction were prominent premotor GIS of PD.

Dry mouth: an overlooked autonomic symptom of Parkinson's disease.

There is involvement of salivary glands by α-synuclein pathology in PD. However, the prevalence of dry mouth has not been systematically assessed in these patients. We studied 97 PD patients and 86 controls using a structured questionnaire. Dry mouth was reported by 60.8% of PD patients and 27.9% of controls (p < 0.0001). Dry mouth and drooling coexisted in 30% of cases. Only 12% of patients had reported dry mouth to their physicians. Dry mouth is a frequent but underreported symptom and may be an early manifestation of autonomic involvement in PD.

Micro lesion effect of the globus pallidus internus and outcome with deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson disease and dystonia.

To determine whether the immediate response to electrode implantation (micro lesion effect, MLE) in the internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPi) predicts symptom improvement with deep brain stimulation (DBS) at 6 months in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) or generalized dystonia. Electrode implantation in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) prior to electrical stimulation has been reported to predict a beneficial effect of DBS in patients with PD, but whether this is also the case for the GPi in either PD or dystonia patients has not been established. We studied 20 patients (11 with PD and 9 with dystonia) who underwent electrode implantation in the GPi. Effects were assessed using standardized scales after 24 hours, weekly for 3 weeks prior to starting DBS, and after 6 months of DBS. 10 of 11 PD and 8 of 9 dystonia cases who benefited from electrode implantation also showed improvement in all motor and disability scores after 6 months of DBS of the GPi. One dystonia patient who did not show MLE benefited from DBS. The presence of MLE after electrode implantation in the GPi may help predict motor benefit from DBS in PD and generalized dystonia patients.

Pallidal surgery for the treatment of primary generalized dystonia: long-term follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the results and long-term follow-up after functional surgery of the internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPi) in 10 patients with primary generalized dystonia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Nine of the 10 patients were positive for the DYT1 gene mutation. Bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the GPi was performed in three cases, bilateral pallidotomy in two, and combined surgery (unilateral GPi lesion with contralateral stimulation) in the remaining five. All patients were evaluated with the Burke-Fahn-Marsden dystonia scale (BFMDS) before, immediately after surgery, at 3 weeks, 3 and 6 months and then yearly. Follow up time ranged from 15 to 105 months (mean: 66.1 months) with six patients having more than 6 years follow up. RESULTS: All patients improved after surgery. All patients with unilateral or bilateral DBS experienced an immediate improvement before starting stimulation. The magnitude of this initial micro lesion effect did not predict the magnitude of the long-term benefit of DBS. The mean decrease in the in the BFMDS was 34%, 55%, and 65% in the movement scale; and 32%, 48%, and 49% in the disability scale for patients with bilateral pallidal DBS, combined unilateral DBS and contralateral pallidotomy, and bilateral pallidotomy, respectively. Worsening of dystonia after a plateau of sustained benefit was observed in three patients. Two patients required multiple pallidal surgeries. Adverse events included: permanent anarthria (1), misplacement of the electrode requiring further surgery (2), scalp infection (1), and hardware related problems (3). CONCLUSIONS: This long-term follow up study confirms the beneficial effect of pallidal DBS or pallidotomy in primary generalized dystonia. In addition, our results extent previous observations by showing that, in these patients, (1) the microlesion effect of DBS is not predictive of long-term benefit; (2) combined DBS with contralateral pallidotomy appears to be more effective than bilateral pallidal DBS; and (3) dystonia can reappear after an initial good response during long term follow up.

Posterior spinal cord stimulation in a case of painful legs and moving toes.

A 59-year-old woman with a 5-year history of right lower limb pain is reported. Symptoms developed initially when walking and progressively became bilateral, appeared at rest and involuntary movements of the toes became evident. A diagnosis of painful legs and moving toes was made. As several drug therapies proved unsuccessful, a therapeutic test with a tetrapolar epidural lead to stimulate the spinal cord dorsal tracts was performed. Due to the marked improvement the device and generator were implanted and she has responded satisfactorily to this therapy for the past 13 months.

Holmes tremor secondary to brainstem hemorrhage responsive to levodopa: report of 2 cases.

We report 2 patients who presented a brainstem hemorrhage and who, after 1 and 6 months, respectively, developed a 4-Hz postural and resting tremor consistent with Holmes tremor, which severely interfered with the activities of daily living. In both cases, levodopa dramatically improved the tremor. Pharmacological treatment of this condition is usually disappointing, and surgical procedures are commonly required for severe cases. Our patients, together with 13 others gleaned from the literature, suggest that in cases of Holmes tremor secondary to brainstem hemorrhage, levodopa can be a useful treatment, and it should be tested before considering invasive therapies.

Bilateral STN-DBS fails to improve non-motor fluctuations in a PD patient.

We report the case of a 60-year-old woman with Parkinson's disease and severe motor fluctuations. During OFF periods she presented both motor and non-motor symptoms, which ameliorated rapidly after each levodopa dose. After undergoing bilateral STN DBS, motor complications improved markedly while non-motor symptoms remained unchanged. Levodopa response is regarded as a good predictive factor for the prognosis of motor symptoms in PD patients undergoing surgery. However, our case suggests that its relation with the prognosis of non-motor symptoms might be different and remains to be addressed.