The palmomental reflex in Parkinson's disease. Comparisons with normal subjects and clinical relevance
A. Maertens de Noordhout and P. J. Delwaide
Section of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, University of Liege, Belgium.
We tested 356 normal subjects and 109 parkinsonian patients for the
palmomental reflex. The total incidence of the reflex was 16.3% in normal
subjects, increasing with age. In parkinsonian patients, the overall
incidence of the reflex was 71.5%, without clear effect of age. A positive
correlation was found between degree of akinesia and incidence as well as
intensity of the reflex. In the dyskinetic patients, the reflex was seldom
elicited, and, if so, it was small. Modifications of the characteristics of
the response could be disclosed in parallel with variations of the
patient's clinical status. These findings suggest that the presence of a
palmomental reflex in parkinsonian patients could indirectly reflect the
decrease of dopaminergic activity in the nigrostriatal pathways.
