Clinical presentation of Parkinson's disease among Sudanese patients

Parkinson Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting motor system. It is a chronic progressive disorder leading to long standing disability. Objective: To study the clinical presentation of PD among Sudanese patients seen at Elshaab Teaching Hospital during the period from May2004-April 2008. Methodology: In this descriptive prospective, cross sectional hospital based study, 94 patients were studied using standardized questionnaire including history and clinical examination. Result: The total number diagnosed to have PD was 94 patients. Male to female ratio was found to be1.5:1.Common age group affected was 70-80 years (24.47%).The common presenting symptom was found to be poverty of movement (93.6%) followed by tremor (82.98%). On neurological examination; rigidity, dyskinesia and festinate gait were the common signs. Primitive reflexes were found in significant number of patients. Idiopathic PD was found to be the common type (75.53%). Of the side effects of benzhexol, 66.67% of our patients developed dry mouth. Postural hypotension was seen in 10.42% of the patients who were taking levodopa. Conclusion: The clinical presentations of our patients does not differ from what was mentioned in the literature Keywords : rigidity, dyskinesia, festinate gait, benzhexol, levodopa.