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Parkinson disease (PD) and related atypical parkinsonism syndromes constitute a large group of disorders with overlapping clinical expressions. Because there are no standard, objective, or convenient diagnostic tests, neurologists scrutinize and weigh the clinical clues that may help to distinguish classical idiopathic PD from the atypical syndromes. Suspicion of atypical parkinsonism is raised by early falling, levodopa unresponsiveness, lack of tremor, ocular signs, dysautonomia, and cerebellar signs, among other features.
In this study, the authors highlight the importance of ataxia in the diagnosis of atypical parkinsonism. They scored each patient’s performance on a simple 10-step tandem-gait test according to the number of side steps. …