Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease

How is Parkinson's disease diagnosed?
Making an accurate diagnosis in the early stages of Parkinson's disease can be difficult, and may require observation of the patient for some time until it is apparent that the tremor is consistently present and is joined by one or more of the other classic symptoms.

Because other forms of parkinsonism have similar features but require different treatments, making a precise diagnosis as soon as possible is essential for starting a patient on a proper treatment regimen.

Currently, there are no specific tests for diagnosing PD, although there are several methods for evaluating its presence.

• Diagnosis is based on a neurological examination, including evaluation of symptoms and their severity.

• When symptoms are significant, a trial test of drugs (primarily levodopa [L-dopa]) may be used to further diagnose the presence of PD. If a patient fails to benefit from levodopa, a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease may be questionable.

• Computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain may be used to help rule out other diseases with symptoms that resemble PD.