A new article published in JAMA Neurology compares survival rates among patients with synucleinopathies, including Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s disease dementia and multiple system atrophy with parkinsonism, with individuals in the general population.

The population-based study included all the residents of Minnesota’s Olmsted County and identified 461 patients with synucleinopathies and 452 patients without for comparison.

From 1991 through 2010, the 461 patients with a synucleinopathy diagnosis included 309 with Parkinson’s disease, 81 with dementia with Lewy bodies, 55 with Parkinson’s disease dementia and 16 with multiple system atrophy with parkinsonism. Parkinsonism was defined as the presence of at least 2 of 4 cardinal signs: rest tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity and impaired postural reflexes.

Of the 461 patients with synucleinopathies, 316 (68.6 percent) died during follow-up, while among the 452 participants used for comparison, 220 (48.7 percent) died during follow-up.

Overall, patients with synucleinopathies died about two years earlier than participants without in the comparison group. The highest risk of death was seen among patients with multiple system atrophy with parkinsonism, followed by patients with dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s disease dementia and Parkinson’s disease, according to the results.

Paper: “Survival and Causes of Death Among People With Clinically Diagnosed Synucleinopathies With Parkinsonism”
Reprinted from materials provided by The JAMA Network.