Intermediate scale for assessment of Parkinson's disease. Characteristics and structure.

The present study is devoted to the verification of the basic metrical characteristics of the ISAPD. One hundred and sixty-seven Parkinson's disease (PD) patients were included. Group A (n = 40) was simultaneously assessed by five raters who applied the ISAPD and other PD rating scales (PDRS). A set of timed tests, the MiniMental State Examination (MMSE) and the Hamilton Scale for Depression (HSD) were administered by an independent examiner. Group B (n = 127) was individually assessed through the UPDRS and the other PDRSs by separate neurologists in four different hospitals. The ISAPD was administered in 7.0 +/- 3.7 min. The internal consistency of this scale was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97). The inter-rater reliability of their items was very satisfactory (for all items, kappa > 0.70). There was a high correlation with the Hoehn and Yahr classification (r(s) = 0.71; p < 0.001) and some timed tests. The convergent validity with the other PDRS (UPDRS and Schwab and England Scale) was also very high (r(s) = 0.83-0.92; p < 0.001). The ISAPD also correlated with the MMSE and the HSD. Factor analysis identified three factors (activities of daily living; gait and mobility; speech and eating) that explained 76% of the variance. The ISAPD is an easy to apply, reliable, and valid scale that fulfills the aim for which it was designed.

[Familial Mediterranean fever and myeloma: an undescribed association]. / Fiebre mediterránea familiar y mieloma: una asociación no descrita.

An atypical case of familial mediterranean fever is presented in a 55 year old male with neither family antecedents nor ethnic determinants. The patient presented isolated articular involvement and positive response in the metaraminol provocation and colchicine suppression test. It was associated with monoclonal type IgG kappa gammopathy which evolved over one year until obtaining criteria, although asymptomatic, for myeloma. The increase of the monoclonal component and the infiltration of the bone medulla by plasmatic cells were considered as signs of progression inducing the initiation of treatment despite the lack of symptoms. Both entities are discussed and a mechanism justifying their association is proposed: interleukin-6 produced by macrophages in the inflammatory articular foci due to the deficiency of the C5a inhibitor existing in familial mediterranean fever, may act on a plasmatic cell clone in which receptors for IL-6 exist as a paracrine growth factor.