The differential diagnosis of Huntington's disease-like syndromes: 'red flags' for the clinician.

ABSTRACT: A growing number of progressive heredodegenerative conditions mimic the presentation of Huntington's disease (HD). Differentiating among these HD-like syndromes is necessary when a patient with a combination of movement disorders, cognitive decline, behavioural abnormalities and progressive disease course proves negative to the genetic testing for HD causative mutations, that is, IT15 gene trinucleotide-repeat expansion. The differential diagnosis of HD-like syndromes is complex and may lead to unnecessary and costly investigations. We propose here a guide to this differential diagnosis focusing on a limited number of clinical features ('red flags') that can be identified through accurate clinical examination, collection of historical data and a few routine ancillary investigations. These

SUBMITTER: Martino D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3646286 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature