Optoelectronic movement analysis in Parkinson's disease: effect of selegiline on the disability in de novo parkinsonian patients--a pilot study.

ABSTRACT

New opto-electronic camera systems permit easy quantification of the motor performance during natural acts in freely moving humans. We used a simple test movement (PLM test) to quantify the disturbance in the postural (P), locomotor (L) and manual (M) part of the body movement and the coordination of the different movement phases into a smooth motor act. The test movement time was used to quantify the overall performance. With this technique we have measured the effects of selegiline on the degree of parkinsonism in a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of 5 de novo patients with Parkinson's disease. There was a clear trend that selegiline was superior to placebo in reducing the test movement time.