Drug-induced Parkinsonism. Clinical aspects compared with Parkinson disease

Introduction. Drug-induced Parkinsonism (DIP) is the second commonest cause of Parkinson syndromes, after Parkinson diseases (PD) and represents between 10% and 30% of all patients with Parkinsonism. Objectives. To study the frequency and drugs responsible for DIP and to compare some of the clinical characteristics of these patients and those with PD. patients and methods. A retrospective community based study in Bajo Aragon district to determine the frequency of PD and Society Brain Bank and DIP on the criteria of Jimenez et at. Results. Calcium antagonist were the cause of 73% of the DIP, followed by neuroleptic drugs (11.5%). There were 73% women (19/26). The patients with DIP were older than those with PD when their symptoms started (p = 0.02). In patients with DIP 48% presented with bilateral symptoms as compared with 7% in PD (p < 0.001). Conclusions. 1. Cinarizine is the main drug responsible for DIP (58%) 2. As compared with patients with PD, patients with DIP are mainly women, older, more frequently have bilateral onset of symptoms and consult the doctor sooner [Rev Neurol 1998; 27:35-9].