Statins are underused in recent-onset Parkinson's disease with increased vascular risk: findings from the UK Tracking Parkinson's and Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre (OPDC) discovery cohorts.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) influences phenotypic variation in Parkinson's disease (PD), and is usually an indication for statin therapy. It is less clear whether cardiovascular risk factors influence PD phenotype, and if statins are prescribed appropriately.

Objectives: To quantify vascular risk and statin use in recent-onset PD, and examine the relationship between vascular risk, PD severity and phenotype.

Variation in Recent Onset Parkinson's Disease: Implications for Prodromal Detection.

Background: The detection of prodromal Parkinson's disease (PD) is desirable to test drugs with neuroprotective potential, but will be affected by known disease variations.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of four key non-motor prodromal PD markers, and evaluate the sensitivity of case detection when non-motor screening tools for prodromal PD are implemented in an early clinical PD cohort.

Methods: Hyposmia (University of Pennsylvania smell identification test ≤15th centile or Sniffin' Sticks at or ≤10th centile corrected for age and sex), rapid-eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD questionnaire >4), constipation (<1 daily spontaneous bowel motion) and depression (Leeds >6) were recorded in recent onset PD cases, and proposed non-motor screening criteria applied.

High resolution magnetic susceptibility mapping of the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease.

Purpose: To determine if tissue magnetic susceptibility is a more direct marker of tissue iron content than other MR markers of iron. This study presents the first quantitative, in vivo measurements of the susceptibility of the substantia nigra in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Materials And Methods: Nine patients and 11 controls were studied at 7 Tesla.

Can spiral analysis predict the FP-CIT SPECT scan result in tremulous patients?

Background: Previous studies have compared the accuracy of spiral analysis in distinguishing essential tremor (ET) from PD. In this study, we have used this technique to distinguish cases of tremulous PD (TDPD) (N = 24) from tremulous parkinsonian subjects without evidence of dopaminergic deficit (N = 41).

Methods: All patients were characterized on clinical and (123)I-N-ω-fluoro-propyl-2ß-carbomethoxy-3ß-(4-iodophenyl) nortropane ([(123)I] FP-CIT) SPECT scan data, which were concordant in every case.

Accuracy of clinical diagnosis in tremulous parkinsonian patients: a blinded video study.

Background: This study examines the clinical accuracy of movement disorder specialists in distinguishing tremor dominant Parkinson's disease (TDPD) from other tremulous movement disorders by the use of standardised patient videos.

Patients And Methods: Two movement disorder specialists were asked to distinguish TDPD from patients with atypical tremor and dystonic tremor, who had no evidence of presynaptic dopaminergic deficit (subjects without evidence of dopaminergic deficit (SWEDDs)) according to (123)I-N-ω-fluoro-propyl- 2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl) nortropane ([(123)I] FP-CIT) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), by 'blinded' video analysis in 38 patients. A diagnosis of parkinsonism was made if the step 1 criteria of the Queen Square Brain Bank criteria for Parkinson's disease were fulfilled.