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Idiopathic Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative disease that is difficult to distinguish from other parkinsonian syndromes such as multiple system atrophy(MSA).In MSA,autonomic dysfunction is common and is associated with either parkinsonian or cerebellar features,or both. Differentiation of idiopathic Parkinson's disease from MSA is important because prognosis,complications,and response to therapy vary according to disorder.Our aim was to find out whether clonidine/growth hormone(GH) testing distinguishes idiopathic Parkinson's disease from MSA.The GH responses to clonidine clearly differentiated idiopathic Parkinson's disease from MSA-C and MSA-P.Together with the levodopa studies they indicated a specific x2-adrenoceptor-hypothalamic deficit in MSA.The clonidine-GH test may provide further insight into central neurotransmitter and x2-adrenoceptor-hypothalamic abnormalities in MSA. |
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