An overview of diagnosing atypical parkinsonian disorders, including corticobasal degeneration (CBD), was published in the August 2016 issue of Continuum, a journal for neurologists.
The article describes CBD as follows:
CBD is an atypical parkinsonian syndrome … that presents with varied phenotypes. The classic presentation with asymmetric rigidity, dystonia, and ideomotor apraxia is now referred to as CBS… Typically, marked asymmetry of involvement is the most striking feature and helps differentiate CBD from other degenerative disorders. The most common presenting feature is asymmetric hand clumsiness followed by early bradykinesia, a frontal syndrome, tremor, and rigidity. The mean onset of disease occurs in the sixth decade, and prognosis is generally poor with a mean survival of about 7 years from diagnosis.
There’s nothing new in the article but it provides a good summary of current knowledge about CBD. The article discusses:
* CBD symptoms, including marked asymmetry, focal rigidity,
coarse rest/action tremor, limb dystonia (followed by
contractures), alien limb phenomenon, hand, limb, gait, or
speech apraxia, myoclonus, cortical sensory loss, language
deficits, frontal/cortical dementia, bulbar impairment, and
postural instability.
* four types of CBD including:
> CBS
> frontal behavioral-spatial syndrome
> nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia
> PSP syndrome
One case study is provided of someone with corticobasal-PSP
syndrome.
* CBD pathology
* CBD diagnostics
* CBD treatments
A very short excerpt is copied below.
The abstract is available at no charge. Amazingly, the full article seems to be available at no charge; grab it while you can! See:
Diagnostic Approach to Atypical Parkinsonian Syndromes.
Nikolaus R. McFarland
Continuum. 2016 Aug;22(4 Movement Disorders):1117-42.
PubMed ID#: 27495201
Link to Abstract
Link to Full article
Happy reading!
Robin
Excerpts from
Diagnostic Approach to Atypical Parkinsonian Syndromes.
Nikolaus R. McFarland
Continuum. 2016 Aug;22(4 Movement Disorders):1117-42.
KEY POINTS
* The most common presenting features for corticobasal degeneration are asymmetric hand clumsiness or apraxia followed by early bradykinesia, frontal syndrome, tremor, and rigidity.
* Ideomotor apraxia is defined by an inability to perform a skilled motor task despite having intact language, motor, and sensory function. Examples include inability to imitate gestures or mime a certain task (eg, use a screwdriver or cut with a pair of scissors). This type of apraxia can be difficult to distinguish from limb-kinetic apraxia, which is frequently seen in parkinsonisms, but is independent of modality (imitation versus miming).