The frequency and risk factors of development of a compression neuropathy in patients with Parkinson Disease

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the frequency of nerve conduction abnormalities or compression neuropathy in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) whom without clinically and/or electrophysiologically proven peripheral neuropathy. The second aim of this study to investigate the relationship between bradykinesia and nerve conduction abnormalities in PD.Thirty patients with Parkinson disease (14 women,16 men) with a mean age of 63.9 and 30 healthy (13 women,17 men) voluntaries as a control group with a mean age of 59.8 were evaluated in this study.The periferal nerve conduction studies were done on one upper extremity and one lower extremity both in the patient and in the control groups. In the patient group, the amplitude of sensory nerve action potential (CNAP) of the median nerve in the wrist-elbow segment and amplitude of CNAP of sural nerve and amplitude of compound muscle action potential of peroneal nerve were lower than controls, the differences were statistically significant (p<0,001, p<0,05, p<0,05, respectively) .In tremor dominant PD patients, the amplitude of CNAP of median nerve in wrist-elbow segment was lower than control group (p<0.05). The amplitude of CNAP of median nerve in the palm-wrist segment was small in akinetic-rijid PD group (p<0,05). Additionally, akinetic-rijid PD patients? motor nerve conduction velocity of peroneal nerve was slow than controls (p<0,05).As the degree of bradykinesia increased, the motor conduction velocity of peroneal nerve had a tendency to decrease (r=-0,461, p<0,05).The number of patients with abnormal nerve conduction findings did not differ between the tremor dominant and the akinetic-rigid PD groups (p>0.05). Also there wasn?t a correlation between these values and the duration of the disease (p>0,05).As a result, the this study showed that the risk of development of a compression neuropathy in patients with Parkinson Disease was similar as healthy population. Also with respect to the subgroups of Parkinson Disease there was not a difference in terms of nerve conduction disorder.