Another Face of Parkinson’s Disease: Peripheral Involvement

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Parkinson’s disease (PD) was initially seen as a neurodegenerative process of the basal ganglia but clinical and pathological evidence revealed its strong systemic as well as peripheral nervous system involvement. The current review aims to present the recent data in the association of polyneuropathy (PN) and PD. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature search in the most important international databases. We report the results of most recent studies in a narrative way. RESULTS: Several recent studies have shown the presence of PN as a small fiber disease in the early stages of PD. Also there seems to be a link between acquired axonal neuropathy and chronic Levo-Dopa intake. We present the possible pathogenesis of this association, also a summary of the evaluation of PN in PD patients and the main management approaches. CONCLUSION: The association of PN in PD patients is an important phenomenon that significantly decreases their quality of life, underlining the value of clinical and paraclinical assessment the all stages of the disease.