[Current aspects in diagnosis of Parkinson disease]

The causes of symptomatic parkinsonism are enumerated and discussed including drug-induced, vascular, toxic, postencephalitic and posttraumatic parkinsonism. The environmental hypothesis and the concept of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease are illustrated. The clinical diagnosis, the differential diagnosis and the possible diagnostic errors originating from the cardinal symptoms akinesia, rigor und tremor in the early stages of the disease are delineated. At last the contributions of EEG, CCT, evoked potentials, MRI, PET und the apomorphine test to the diagnosis especially early diagnosis are evaluated.