HP40: Aging: An influencing factor in large fibers neuropathy during idiopathic Parkinson disease

Abstract

The etiology of large fibers neuropathy (LFN) during Idiopathic Parkinson disease (IPD) is still controversial. Therefore, this study aimed to compare 2 groups of Parkinson disease patients with and without LFN in order to better characterize it. Patients and methods: This cross-sectional observational study conducted in Habib Bourguiba Hospital from December 2016 to December 2017 included 60 patients monitored for IPD. The population was divided into two IPD severity matched groups according to electroneuromyography results: G1 (n = 26): patients with LFN and G2 (n = 34): patients without LFN. For each group, we analyzed epidemiologic and clinical features. We also compared LDopa exposure duration and cumulated dose. Results: The mean age of our population was significantly higher in G1 than in G2 (G1: 66.77 ± 11.82 years; G2: 59.97 ± 10.68 years; p = 0.024) with a sex ratio of 1.06. The mean onset age of IPD was 59.58 in G1 and 54.62 in G2 with no significant difference. However, the age of first examination was significantly higher in G1 (G1:61.93 ± 13.29 years; G2: 55.51 ± 9.87 years; p = 0.036). When comparing clinical features (onset signs, pre-motor and motor phases duration ) no significant difference was found between the two groups. Treatment duration and LDopa cumulated dose were also similar among both groups. Conclusion: Being correlated to age and having similar therapeutical features between our two groups are strong arguments for LFN not being an iatrogenic complication of LDopa. Instead, our findings plead that LFN is most probably an intrinsic component of IPD or a degenerative consequence of aging.