Prospective, randomized, double-blind study, comparing botulinum toxins type a botox and prosigne for blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm treatment.

Botulinum toxin A (BTA) is considered an effective treatment of blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm, but there are few studies to permit a comparison of its different formulations. This prospective, randomized, double-blind study compared Prosigne, a BTA of Chinese origin, with Botox to establish safety, efficacy, and equivalence of doses between those 2 formulations in blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm treatment. Fifty-seven patients participated in this study: 21 blepharospasm (from whom 11 were treated with Botox; and 10, with Prosigne) and 36 hemifacial spasm patients (17 were treated with Botox; and 19, with Prosigne).

A prospective, randomized, double-blind study comparing the efficacy and safety of type a botulinum toxins botox and prosigne in the treatment of cervical dystonia.

Botulinum toxin A (BTA) is considered an effective treatment of cervical dystonia. The aim of this prospective, randomized, double-blind study was to compare Botox and Prosigne, a BTA of Chinese origin, with a view to establish the safety, the efficacy, and the equivalence of doses of the 2 formulations in the treatment of cervical dystonia. Twenty-four patients were randomized to receive 300 U of Botox or Prosigne (12 patients in each group).

Pain in Parkinson's disease.

Pain may precede the diagnosis in Parkinson's disease (PD). The goal of this study was to assess the pain in a group of 20 females and 30 males with PD, after excluding co-morbidities as causes. It was used the following tools: Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, McGill questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory.

Olfaction and essential tremor.

Objective: To characterize the olfactory identification in 40 essential tremor (ET) patients, with the University of Pennsylvania 12 Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), to correlate UPSIT scores to clinical and epidemiological data and to compare it to 89 aged matched controls.

Method: Patients were assessed using ET Clinical Scale of Evaluation and UPSIT.

Results: In patients with ET, the UPSIT medium score was 9.

Psychopathological features in patients with Parkinson's disease and related caregivers' burden.

Background: Along with classical motor disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD), psychopathological features frequently co-occur, which may increase the caregiver's burden.

Aims: To identify the profile of psychopathological symptoms in patients with PD and the impact imposed by this condition on the caregiver's burden.

Subjects: Fifty patients with idiopathic PD seen consecutively at the Movement Disorder Outpatient Clinic at the Hospital of State University of Campinas, Brazil, and their 50 respective caregivers were studied.

Depression in patients with Parkinson's disease: impact on functioning.

Depression is a frequently observed neuropsychiatric phenomenon in Parkinson's disease (PD) and it has been lately considered as a manifestation of such disease. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between depression and clinical aspects of PD and to assess the impact of the co-occurrence of such condition on the burden imposed by PD. Fifty outpatients diagnosed with idiopathic PD according to the London Brain Bank criteria were examined.

Pain in Parkinson's disease: analysis of 50 cases in a clinic of movement disorders.

Introduction: Pain is a common symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD), and is often related to the illness itself.

Objective: To prospectively establish the occurrence of pain in PD patients.

Method: This study was conducted within a population composed of 50 patients with PD to evaluate the presence of pain.

Dementia and functional decline in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Unlabelled: Functional decline in Parkinson's disease (PD), characterized by reduced ability to carry out activities of daily living, usually results from typical motor impairment and may be aggravated by concomitant cognitive impairment.

Objective: To compare the functional decline in Parkinson's disease between patients with dementia and cognitively preserved patients.

Methods: From an original sample composed of 50 patients with a clinical diagnosis of idiopathic PD seen in a consecutive series, 33 non-depressed patients were selected comprising 13 with dementia and 20 cognitively preserved individuals.

[Olfactory dysfunction in Parkinson's disease].

Objective: To characterize the olfactory dysfunction in 50 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with the University of Pennsylvania 12 smell identification test (UPSIT), establishing a comparison with 76 age-matched healthy controls, and associate with clinical and epidemiologic picture.

Method: The PD group was evaluated in phase "on" through United Parkinson's disease rating scale, UPSIT, and Hoehn and Yahr stage and the control group with the UPSIT.

Results: The mean UPSIT score was 5.

Vascular parkinsonism: analysis of seven cases.

Introduction: Neuroimaging studies of elderly individuals reveal alterations in the white matter that are incompatible with the patients parkinsonism, mistakenly classified as vascular parkinsonism (VP).

Method: This study was conducted on a population composed of 20 patients with Parkinsons disease (PD) whose neuroimaging exams revealed vascular alterations in the white matter and seven patients with VP in order to compare diagnostic criteria.

Results: Age at disease onset of patients with PD was 55+/-12 years and patients with VP it was 62+/-13 years.