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Chapter 17 - Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease

A Critical Reappraisal of UK Brain Bank and MDS Diagnostic Criteria

from Section 2: - Hypokinetic Movement Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2025

By
Christian R. Baumann ,
Kathrin Brockmann  and
Daniela Berg
Edited by
Erik Ch. Wolters  and
Christian R. Baumann
Erik Ch. Wolters
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Christian R. Baumann
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
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Summary

The clinical and pathologic hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are motor parkinsonism due to underlying progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta accompanied by an accumulation of intracytoplasmic protein inclusions known as Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites. The diagnostic criteria/guidelines based on the UK Parkinson’s Disease Society Brain Bank clinical diagnostic criteria have guided clinicians and researchers in the diagnosis of PD for many decades. This chapter discusses whether this description represents our current understanding of PD, and why it is time to integrate new research findings and accommodate our definition and diagnostic criteria of PD, such as Parkinson-associated non-motor symptoms, genetics, biomarkers, imaging findings, or heterogeneity of phenotypes and underlying molecular mechanisms. In 2015, the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society published clinical diagnostic criteria for Parkinson’s disease, which were designed specifically for use in research but also as a general guide to clinical diagnosis of PD. These criteria and some of their limitations are also discussed.

Keywords

Parkinson’s diseasediagnostic criterianon-motor symptomsgeneticsbiomarkersneuroimaging
Type
Chapter
Information
International Compendium of Movement Disorders , pp. 202 - 211
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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