Objective: Our study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of PD patients stratified by OH status before and after levodopa challenge to explore the hypothesis that OH might serve as a clinical marker for the body-first subtype of PD.

Background: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is a cardinal non-motor symptom in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and can occur spontaneously and be exacerbated by dopaminergic treatment throughout the full cycle of the disease.

Method: Supine and standing blood pressure were measured in a large cross-sectional cohort of PD patients at the OFF status before and after levodopa challenge test (LCT). Based on OH status, patients were divided into three groups: spontaneous OH (SOH), only levodopa-induced OH (LOH) and non-OH (NOH). Clinical characteristics and associated factors were compared among the groups.

Results: A total of 928 patients, a majority of whom underwent pre-operational evaluation, with a mean age of 62.4 years and average disease duration of 7.9 years were included. There were 224 (24.1%) patients with SOH, 321 (34.6%) with LOH, and 383 (41.3%) with NOH. Compared to NOH, both SOH and LOH were associated with older age, motor fluctuations, and probable rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (pRBD). In addition, OH was more associated with cardiovascular and digestive dysfunction, disease severity and worse quality of life.

Conclusion: Results of the current study suggest that about 60% mid-later stage PD patients developed OH which is more likely to comorbid with RBD, severe autonomic dysfunction and motor fluctuations, consistent with the body-first subtype of PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/orthostatic-hypotension%ef%bc%9aa-clinical-marker-for-the-body-first-subtype-of-patients-with-parkinsons-disease/