Early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease

The clinical methods of olfactory testing and color discrimination as well as apparative methods such as transcranial ultrasound, dopamine transporter imaging and MIBG scintigraphy reveal a high sensitivity concerning the diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD). The specificity of the presented methods, in particular of the dopamine transporter imaging—seems to be limited. All these methods and primarily their combination allow the detection of PD in early and—probably—preclinical stages. This requires sufficient therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat preclinical and early PD.