Olfactory loss may be a first sign of idiopathic Parkinson's disease

✍ Scribed by Antje Haehner; Thomas Hummel; Cornelia Hummel; Ulrike Sommer; Susann Junghanns; Heinz Reichmann

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 55 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-3185
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.21413

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Recent studies support the idea of olfactory dysfunction as a very early sign of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD). Aim of the present study was to clinically follow‐up patients with idiopathic hyposmia to find out the percentage of patients developing IPD after 4 years time. At baseline, olfactory tests had been combined with transcranial sonography of the substantia nigra and ^123^I‐FP‐CIT SPECT imaging. At the present neurological examination, 7% of the individuals with idiopathic hyposmia had developed clinical IPD. Altogether, 13% presented with abnormalities of the motor system. Our data suggest that a combination of olfactory testing and other tests may constitute a screening tool for the risk to develop IPD. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society