title: Bradykinesia in Huntington's disease. A prospective, follow-up study.
abstract: Bradykinesia is a frequent finding in Huntington's disease (HD), but some aspects are presently unknown; including the natural evolution of bradykinesia over time and the correlation between bradykinesia and functional capacity. We studied the motor performance of 20 genetically confirmed patients with HD (age: 40+/-10.8 years; age at onset 33.6+/-11 years; total functional capacity (TFC): 9.57+/-3; UHDRS total motor scale: 31.4+/-13, triplet length (CAG)n: 46.7+/-4 triplets). These patients were studied in baseline conditions and after 18.7+/-6 months of follow-up. In addition, HD patients were compared with 20 age-matched normal controls. Motor study included the four CAPIT timed tests commonly used for Parkinson's disease: pronation-supination (PS), finger dexterity (FD), movement between two points (MTP) and walking test (WT). HD patients were significantly slower than controls in all motor tasks. A significant deterioration occurred over time in three of the four motor tasks (especially FD and WT). A significant correlation between timed tests and TFC score was found (for MTP, r: -0.845; p < 0,0001). In addition a significant correlation between timed tests and the UHDRDS total motor scale was also found (for MTP, r: 0.864; p < 0.0001). In conclusion, simple timed motor tests can detect a deterioration of motor activity over time in HD. Timed tests might be useful to follow the natural evolution of HD and to assess the efficacy of new therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Avda. Reyes Católicos 2, Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid 28040, Spain. pgarcia@fjd.es
authors.forename: Pedro J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: García Ruiz
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cantarero
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bartolomé
authors.forename: Vicenta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sánchez Bernardos
authors.forename: Justo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: García de Yébenez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018450:Disease Progression; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018476:Hypokinesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric