Objective: To determine the clinical and therapeutic peculiarities that distinguish Early onset Parkinson’s disease (EOPD) from late onset Parkinson’s disease (LOPD).

Background: Age is the most important risk factor for Parkinson’s disease (PD). EOPD occurs in people younger than 50 years of age and differs from the classic LOPD by several peculiarities. Our study showed that the most common presentation was the combination of 2 or 3 motor symptoms (bradykinesia, resting tremor and rigidity) with bradykinesia and rigidity being more common in EOPD. The results of our study and the study by Ferguson et al., 2015 were consistent showing earlier onset of motor complications induced by levodopa in these patients (EOPD) with slower disease progression.

Method: We carried out a retrospective study in the department of neurology at Habib Bourguiba hospital Sfax-Tunisia over a period of 10 years (2009-2019). We included patients with PD according to the criteria of MDS 2015. We have compared epidemiological characteristics, the time needed to make the diagnosis of PD, the duration of the illness, clinical phenotypes and motor complications induced by levodopa in the 2 groups EOPD vs LOPD.

Results: We collected 258 patients, the majority of them were male (SR = 1,56). 91 patients were under 50 years old (35%). the time needed to consult and make the diagnosis was more prolonged in LOPD (p=0.001). Among the three cardinal motor symptoms of PD, bradykinesia and rigidity were more frequently found in EOPD (p<0.05) as well as psychiatric disorders. EOPD had a higher cumulative incidence of dyskinesias (p=0.01), wearing-off (p<0.01), and on-off (p<0.01).

Conclusion: Our study shows clinical peculiarities of the EOPD form with a predominant akineto-rigid phenotype. These EOPD patients present more motor complications induced by levodopa.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/early-onset-vs-late-onset-parkinsons-disease/