Utility of Neurophysiological Evaluation in Movement Disorders Clinical Practice

Quantitative and objective neurophysiological assessment can help to define the predominant phenomenology and provide diagnoses that have prognostic and therapeutic implications for movement disorders.

Evaluate the agreement between initial indications and final diagnoses after neurophysiological evaluations in a specialized movement disorders center.

Electrophysiological studies conducted for movement disorders from 2003 to 2021 were reviewed. The indications were classified according to predominant phenomenology and the diagnoses categorized in subgroups of phenomenology.

A total of 509 studies were analyzed. 51% (259) of patients were female, with a mean age of 51 years (ranges 5 to 89 years). The most common reasons for referral were evaluation of functional movement disorders (FMD), followed by jerky movements, tremor and postural instability. Regarding FMD referrals, there was a diagnostic change in 13% of the patients after electrophysiological assessment. The patients with jerky movements as indication had a diagnosis other than myoclonus in 27% of them, and tremor was not confirmed in 20% of the cases. In patients with an electrophysiological diagnosis of FMD, it was not suspected in 30% of the referrals. Similarly, tremor was not mentioned in the referral of 17% of the patients with this electrophysiological diagnosis and myoclonus was not suspected in 13% of the cases.

Electrophysiological assessment has utility in the evaluation of movement disorders, even in patients evaluated by movement disorders neurologists. More studies are needed to standardize the protocols between centers and to promote the availability and use of these techniques among movement disorders clinics.