Transcranial sonography and the pocket smell test in the differential diagnosis between parkinson's disease and essential tremor

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the specificity and sensitivity of transcranial sonography (TCS) and the Pocket Smell Test (PST) in differing Parkinson's disease from essential tremor. The results were compared with the dopamin transporter scan (DaTSCAN) findings. Based on the DaTSCAN finding we formed a group of patients with essential tremor (51 patients) and a group with the Parkinson's disease (59 patients). The control group consisted of 26 healthy one. To evaluate the olfactory dysfunction the PST was used, whereas by TCS the substantia nigra hyperechogenicity was marked. The sensitivity and specificity of each diagnostic method was statistically calculated. In confirming Parkinson's disease the specificity of TCS was 88.2 % and the sensitivity 94.9 %. The specificity of PST was 80.4 % whereas the sensitivity was 74.6 %. TCS and PST should be performed to evaluate which patients need to be examined by DaTSCAN.