Orthostatic hypotension in drug-naïve patients with Parkinson's disease

Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is known to be present even in patients with early Parkinson's disease (PD). To affirm the presence of OH and find correlation between OH and other dysautonomic symptoms in PD, this study has done in newly-diagnosed PD patients.

Forty-five non-demented patients with no prior history of treatment for PD were recruited (17 men, 63.8 ± 10.1 years of age). All the patients were evaluated for OH before starting medications. Autonomic symptoms were evaluated with structured questionnaires. Clinical characteristics of PD were evaluated (median Hoehn and Yahr stage 2.0 (1-3), 1.3 ± 1.1 years of disease duration), and comorbid medical conditions that could affect blood pressure were also recorded.

OH was prevalent, and eighteen patients (40%) showed orthostatic hypotension, and twenty-seven (60%) did not (normotensive group). There was no significant difference in demographic and clinical characteristics between groups. The presence or severity of symptoms of autonomic dysfunction in the OH group also not differed from those of the normotensive group.

OH was prevalent even in the early stage of PD, and was not related to presence or severity of any other symptoms of autonomic dysfunction. Our findings suggest that clinicians should pay attention to OH from the early stage of disease.