TY - JOUR
T1 - Low clinical diagnostic accuracy of early vs advanced Parkinson disease
T2 - Clinicopathologic study
AU - Adler, Charles H.
AU - Beach, Thomas G.
AU - Hentz, Joseph G.
AU - Shill, Holly A.
AU - Caviness, John N.
AU - Driver-Dunckley, Erika
AU - Sabbagh, Marwan N.
AU - Sue, Lucia I.
AU - Jacobson, Sandra A.
AU - Belden, Christine M.
AU - Dugger, Brittany N.
PY - 2014/7/29
Y1 - 2014/7/29
N2 - Objectives: Determine diagnostic accuracy of a clinical diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD) using neuropathologic diagnosis as the gold standard. Methods: Data from the Arizona Study of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders were used to determine the predictive value of a clinical PD diagnosis, using 2 clinical diagnostic confidence levels, PossPD (never treated or not clearly responsive) and ProbPD (responsive to medications). Neuropathologic diagnosis was the gold standard. Results: Based on first visit, 9 of 34 (26%) PossPD cases had neuropathologically confirmed PD while 80 of 97 (82%) ProbPD cases had confirmed PD. PD was confirmed in 8 of 15 (53%) ProbPD cases with <5 years of disease duration and 72 of 82 (88%) with $5 years of disease duration. Using final diagnosis at time of death, 91 of 107 (85%) ProbPD cases had confirmed PD. Clinical variables that improved diagnostic accuracy were medication response, motor fluctuations, dyskinesias, and hyposmia. Conclusions: Using neuropathologic findings of PD as the gold standard, this study establishes the novel findings of only 26% accuracy for a clinical diagnosis of PD in untreated or not clearly responsive subjects, 53%accuracy in early PD responsive to medication (<5 years' duration), and >85% diagnostic accuracy of longer duration, medication-responsive PD. Caution is needed when interpreting clinical studies of PD, especially studies of early disease that do not have autopsy confirmation. The need for a tissue or other diagnostic biomarker is reinforced. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class II evidence that a clinical diagnosis of PD identifies patients who will have pathologically confirmed PD with a sensitivity of 88%and specificity of 68%.
AB - Objectives: Determine diagnostic accuracy of a clinical diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD) using neuropathologic diagnosis as the gold standard. Methods: Data from the Arizona Study of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders were used to determine the predictive value of a clinical PD diagnosis, using 2 clinical diagnostic confidence levels, PossPD (never treated or not clearly responsive) and ProbPD (responsive to medications). Neuropathologic diagnosis was the gold standard. Results: Based on first visit, 9 of 34 (26%) PossPD cases had neuropathologically confirmed PD while 80 of 97 (82%) ProbPD cases had confirmed PD. PD was confirmed in 8 of 15 (53%) ProbPD cases with <5 years of disease duration and 72 of 82 (88%) with $5 years of disease duration. Using final diagnosis at time of death, 91 of 107 (85%) ProbPD cases had confirmed PD. Clinical variables that improved diagnostic accuracy were medication response, motor fluctuations, dyskinesias, and hyposmia. Conclusions: Using neuropathologic findings of PD as the gold standard, this study establishes the novel findings of only 26% accuracy for a clinical diagnosis of PD in untreated or not clearly responsive subjects, 53%accuracy in early PD responsive to medication (<5 years' duration), and >85% diagnostic accuracy of longer duration, medication-responsive PD. Caution is needed when interpreting clinical studies of PD, especially studies of early disease that do not have autopsy confirmation. The need for a tissue or other diagnostic biomarker is reinforced. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class II evidence that a clinical diagnosis of PD identifies patients who will have pathologically confirmed PD with a sensitivity of 88%and specificity of 68%.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84905822184&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84905822184&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000641
DO - 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000641
M3 - Article
C2 - 24975862
AN - SCOPUS:84905822184
SN - 0028-3878
VL - 83
SP - 406
EP - 412
JO - Neurology
JF - Neurology
IS - 5
ER -