The accuracy of diagnosis of parkinsonian syndromes in a specialist movement disorder service

We have reviewed the clinical and pathological diagnoses of 143 cases of parkinsonism seen by neurologists associated with the movement disorders service at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London who came to neuropathological examination at the United Kingdom Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Research Centre, over a 10-year period between 1990 and the end of 1999. Seventy-three (47 male, 26 female) cases were diagnosed as having idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) and 70 (42 male, 28 female) as having another parkinsonian syndrome. The positive predictive value of the clinical diagnosis for the whole group was 85.3%, with 122 cases correctly clinically diagnosed. The positive…