P.023 Utility of neurophysiological evaluation in movement disorders clinical practice

Abstract

Background: Quantitative and objective neurophysiological assessment can help to define the predominant phenomenology and provide diagnoses with prognostic and therapeutic implications. We evaluated retrospectively the indications and final diagnoses of movement disorder neurophysiological evaluations in a specialized movement disorders centre. Methods: Reports from 2003 to 11/2021 were reviewed. The indications were classified according to predominant phenomenology, and the diagnosis of each study was categorized in subgroups of each phenomenology. Results: A total of 525 reports were evaluated. The mean age of patients was 51 years (range 5 – 89 years), and 50% were women. The most common indication was functional movement disorders (33%), followed by jerky movements (25%), tremor (20%), unsteadiness (6%), stiff person syndrome (4%), and other less common indications (12%). The most prevalent diagnoses were functional movement disorder (37%), followed by tremor (28%), comprising of essential (6%), dystonic (5%), cerebellar (4%), parkinsonian (3%) and other types of tremors (10%); and myoclonus (21%), including cortical (8%), subcortical (3%) and undefined (10%) types. Conclusions: This 17-year experience showed that neurophysiological testing can help in the diagnosis of movement disorders. More standardized techniques will encourage the widespread use of neurophysiology to evaluate movement disorders.