Category: Parkinsonism, Others
Objective: To investigate early motor signs of α-synucleinopathies in patients with isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) using gait analysis.
Background: iRBD is an early α-synucleinopathy and is considered the most specific prodromal marker of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Even though patients with iRBD do not show significant motor symptoms by definition, they already show various minimal motor signs, pointing to incipient, slowly progressive extrapyramidal neurodegeneration. So far, gait abnormalities are only scarcely studied in iRBD patients but may hold great potential to elucidate early changes in motor behavior.
Method: Eleven patients with polysomnography-confirmed iRBD underwent a detailed neurological assessment, including the MDS UPDRS part III for motor symptom severity. All patients also completed four walking trials at a self-selected speed on a 6m walkway (Leonardo Mechanograph GW), measuring the ground reaction force. They also performed a chair rising test and a Romberg-Balance Test on a force plate (Leonardo Mechanograph® GRFP STD). We compared MDS UPDRS part III scores with gait parameters (step length, step width) and with parameters of the chair rising test and Romberg test.
Results: iRBD Patients were, on average, 68.27 ± 7.24 years old and had a symptom duration of 60.73 ± 6.42 years. The mean MDS UPDRS part III was 5.18 ± 3.03. An increasing step width correlated with higher MDS-UPDRS part III scores on a trend level (r = -0.545, p = .083). Step width additionally correlated with the total time needed to complete the chair rising test on a trend level (r = -0.549, p = .080).
Conclusion: Our preliminary results indicate that the stand and gait of iRBD patients show early alterations and may serve as sensitive biomarkers in prodromal PD. Furthermore, our data suggest that gait analysis in iRBD patients may help better understand motor symptoms’ progression in iRBD.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
K-L. Weiß, S. Röttgen, A. Ophey, G. Fink, M. Sommerauer. Alterations of gait as an early marker of incipient alpha-synucleinopathy [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2023; 38 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/alterations-of-gait-as-an-early-marker-of-incipient-alpha-synucleinopathy/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2023 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/alterations-of-gait-as-an-early-marker-of-incipient-alpha-synucleinopathy/