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Spiral analysis in Niemann‐Pick disease type C
Author(s) -
Hsu Annie W.,
Piboolnurak Panida A.,
Floyd Alicia G.,
Yu Qiping P.,
Wraith James E.,
Patterson Marc C.,
Pullman Seth L.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.22744
Subject(s) - parkinsonism , ataxia , spiral (railway) , dystonia , medicine , niemann–pick disease, type c , psychology , neuroscience , disease , mathematics , mathematical analysis
Spiral analysis is a computerized method of analyzing upper limb motor physiology through the quantification of spiral drawing. The objective of this study was to determine whether spirals drawn by patients with Niemann‐Pick disease type C (NPC) could be distinguished from those of controls, and to physiologically characterize movement abnormalities in NPC. Spiral data consisting of position, pressure, and time were collected from 14 NPC patients and 14 age‐matched controls, and were analyzed by the Mann‐Whitney U test. NPC spirals were characterized by: lower speed (2.67 vs. 9.56 cm/s, P < 0.001) and acceleration (0.10 vs. 2.04 cm/s 2 , P < 0.001), higher loop width variability (0.88 vs. 0.28, P < 0.001), tremor (5/10 vs. 0/10 trials in the dominant hand, P < 0.001), and poor overall spiral rating (2.53 vs. 0.70, P < 0.005). NPC spirals also exhibited sustained drawing pressure profiles that were abnormally invariant with time. Other features, such as the tightness of loop widths, were normal. Our findings reveal that differing aspects of tremor, Parkinsonism, ataxia, and dystonia are quantifiable in NPC patients. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society