Autonomic dysfunction in progressive supranuclear Palsy: A retrospective study.

Journal: Clinical Parkinsonism & Related Disorders
Published:
Abstract

This study aims to investigate the characteristics of autonomic dysfunction in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) compared to Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy-parkinsonian type (MSA-P). We retrospectively reviewed 128 patients who underwent multidisciplinary team (MDT) intervention at Peking Union Medical College Hospital between March 31, 2021, and November 22, 2023. A total of 16 PSP, 27 MSA-P, and 11 PD patients were included. Autonomic dysfunction was assessed using the SCOPA-AUT scale and medical record data, analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics 26. SCOPA-AUT revealed varying degrees of autonomic dysfunction across all groups. The total SCOPA-AUT score was lower in PSP (16.88 ± 6.70) than in MSA-P (23.33 ± 8.80) (p = 0.019), but not significantly different from PD (18.64 ± 9.80). All five SCOPA-AUT subscales were affected in PSP, though significant differences were found only in urinary control (p = 0.006) and urinary storage (p = 0.008) scores between PSP and MSA-P. Orthostatic hypotension was clinically identified in 7.7 % of PSP, 66.7 % of MSA-P, and 27.3 % of PD patients, with a significant difference between PSP and MSA-P (p < 0.001). Residual urine volume in MSA-P (137.5 [75.5-190.25] mL) was significantly higher than in PD (34.5 [1.50-60.00] mL, p < 0.001) and PSP (9.95 [1.13-56.25] mL, p < 0.001). Our findings indicate that PSP presents with various forms of autonomic dysfunction, as assessed by SCOPA-AUT, with similarities to both MSA-P and PD. Objective measures, such as orthostatic blood pressure assessments and residual urine ultrasound, can provide additional insights into autonomic dysfunction in PSP.

Authors
Yichun Wang, Manqing Xie, Dan Xu, Yanhong Wang, Han Wang