[Comparative evaluation of various forms of parkinsonism in middle-aged and elderly patients (clinical,...

The clinical, neuropsychological and computed tomography data were compared in elderly and senile patients with trembling and akinetico-rigid forms of parkinsonism. 12 patients with trembling and 21 with akinetico-rigid forms were examined. The groups did not differ in age or sex. The results of computed brain tomography were estimated with the use of linear, volumetric and densitometric parameters. The akinetico-rigid form was associated with more diverse clinical and neuropsychological symptomatology, more noticeable cerebral atrophy. The gravity of the status of the patients with trembling parkinsonism was largely specified by the intensity of the hyperkinetic syndrome whereas that of the patients with the akinetico-rigid form not only by amyostatic disorders but also by the presence and severity of discoordination, pseudobulbar and mnemonic-intellectual disturbances. Disorders revealed in the patients with the akinetico-rigid form often attest to the dysfunction of the frontal parts of the brain. The nosological heterogeneity of these two forms of parkinsonism is under discussion.