Objective: To examine the long-term association between appendicitis and risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD) we conducted a population-based cohort study using prospectively collected registry data on appendicitis and PD.

Background: Current research indicates that PD disease may start in the gut, and there is a hypothesis that the appendix may be the starting point of the pathogenic process. Thus, removal of the appendix is expected to decrease the risk of PD, while an increased risk could be observed among patients with a perforated appendix.

Methods: We used Danish medical registries to construct a cohort of all patients over age 15 years in Denmark with a hospital diagnosis of appendicitis 1980-2012 and a matched general population comparison cohort. Using Cox regression, we computed hazard ratios (HRs) for PD and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for potential confounders, stratified by follow-up time. We conducted further analysis, comparing perforated and non-perforated appendicitis, and surgically removed vs. non-removed appendicitis.

Results: During follow-up, we identified 492 and 2.304 PD diagnoses amongst the appendicitis cohort and the general population comparison cohort, respectively, finding a almost similar risk of PD [adjusted (a) HR = 1.10 (95% CI: 1.00–1.23)]. No substantial difference was observed after more than 20 years of follow up (HR= 1.10 (95% CI: 0.88–1.38). Analyses of perforated vs. non-perforated, and appendicitis with and without surgery, yielded consistent results.

Conclusions: Appendicitis was not strongly associated with risk for a diagnosis of PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/appendicitis-and-risk-of-parkinsons-disease-a-danish-nationwide-population-based-cohort-study/