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Somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold may help to differentiate patients with multiple system atrophy from patients with P arkinson's disease
Author(s) -
Rocchi L.,
Conte A.,
Nardella A.,
Li Voti P.,
Di Biasio F.,
Leodori G.,
Fabbrini G.,
Berardelli A.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/ene.12059
Subject(s) - medicine , atrophy , somatosensory system , neuroscience , disease , somatosensory evoked potential , physical medicine and rehabilitation , pathology , psychiatry , anesthesia , psychology
Background and purpose Somatosensory t emporal d iscrimination t hreshold ( STDT ) is defined as the threshold at which two tactile stimuli applied to the skin are perceived as clearly distinct. The aim of the study was to investigate whether the extent of STDT alterations differs between patients with parkinsonian type m ultiple s ystem a trophy ( MSA ‐P) and patients with P arkinson's d isease ( PD ). Possible differences between the two groups may help to differentiate MSA ‐ P from PD . Methods STDT was investigated in 20 patients with MSA ‐ P , 21 patients with PD and 18 age‐matched healthy subjects. The clinical evaluation included the M ini‐ M ental S tate E xamination, H oehn and Y ahr S cale, F rontal A ssessment B attery, U nified M ultiple S ystem A trophy R ating S cale for patients with MSA ‐ P , and U nified P arkinson's D isease R ating S cale for patients with PD . STDT was investigated by delivering paired electrical stimuli starting with an inter‐stimulus interval ( ISI ) of 0 ms (simultaneous pair), and progressively increasing the ISI s in 10‐ms steps. Results Between‐group anova showed that STDT statistically differed in MSA ‐ P versus patients with PD and healthy subjects. Post hoc showed that STDT values in patients with MSA ‐ P were significantly higher than those in patients with PD and healthy subjects. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that STDT testing yielded high diagnostic specificity and sensitivity. Conclusions STDT is abnormal in patients with MSA ‐P and PD . The degree of STDT abnormalities is higher in patients with MSA ‐ P than in patients with PD .