Comparison of gait parameters between drug-naïve patients diagnosed with multiple system atrophy with predominant parkinsonism and Parkinson's disease.

INTRODUCTION: Even though gait symptoms are prominent in patients diagnosed with multiple system atrophy with predominant parkinsonism (MSA-P) compared with Parkinson's disease (PD), the gait patterns of MSA-P were not clearly elucidated. We investigated postural instability and gait disturbances in MSA-P compared with PD.

METHODS: We enrolled 34 drug-naïve patients with PD and 26 with MSA-P, and 18 normal controls in this study. Parkinsonism was evaluated by the Unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS) part 3 and cognition was assessed with mini-mental status exam (MMSE). All the enrolled subjects underwent Pedoscan and GAITRite to objectively measure postural stability and gait. We compared the results of posturography and gait analysis among 3 groups, and performed correlation analysis of gait parameters with MMSE, UPDRS part 3 and posturography results.

RESULTS: No difference was detected in demographic and clinical variables, except tremor sub-score of UPDRS part 3, urinary symptoms and orthostatic hypotension. MSA-P patients showed larger total anterior-posterior and lateral movement of centre of pressure (COP), and widened base of support than PD patients. In correlation analysis, MMSE score, axial sub-score of UPDRS part 3 and lateral movement of COP were correlated with gait parameters in PD patients, while only axial sub-score was associated in MSA-P patients after controlling for age, sex, height, body weight, education year, and disease duration.

CONCLUSION: Even at an early stage, MSA-P patients demonstrated more postural instability and gait disturbance compared with PD patients, and the related factors with gait disturbance in PD and MSA-P might be different.