26th May 2015 - New research

SWEDD IN PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Parkinson's Disease can usually be diagnosed conclusively using scanning methods such as the SPECT scan and the PET scan. The term SWEDD (scans without evidence for dopaminergic deficit) refers somebody initially being assumed to have Parkinson's Disease but whose scan shows the absence of any dopamine deficiency or imaging abnormality that would diagnose them as actually having Parkinson's Disease. For more information go to : SWEDD

While many authors have suggested that medical disorders similar to Parkinson's Disease may account for a proportion of SWEDD cases, others have claimed that some of them may have a benign subtype of Parkinson's Disease.

There has consequently been some controversy and confusion concerning this term. Researchers systematically reviewed all the studies involving patients with SWEDD with the aim of shedding light on what these patients actually have. After an analysis of all the studies it becomes clear that while most SWEDD cases are due to a clinical misdiagnosis of Parkinson's Disease, there exists a small proportion of patients with SWEDD who may have Parkinson's Disease on the basis of : a positive L-dopa response, clinical progression, imaging and genetic evidence. The latter challenge the seemingly incontrovertible relationship between dopaminergic tracer binding and the diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease.

Reference : Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry [2015] May 19 [Epub ahead of print] (R.Erro, S.A.Schneider, N.P.Quinn, K.P.Bhatia) Complete abstract  For more news go to Parkinson's Disease News

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