Medline ® Abstract for Reference 98
of 'Classification and evaluation of dystonia'
98
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The phenylalanine loading test in the differential diagnosis of dystonia.
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Bandmann O, Goertz M, Zschocke J, Deuschl G, Jost W, Hefter H, Müller U, Zöfel P, Hoffmann G, Oertel W
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Neurology. 2003;60(4):700.
Early diagnosis of dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD) and its delineation from other dystonic syndromes is of great relevance because DRD is an eminently treatable condition. The possible relevance of the phenylalanine loading test (Phe-L) in differentiating DRD from primary focal and generalized dystonia was investigated. A marked difference in the phenylalanine/tyrosine ratio between patients with DRD and patients with other types of dystonia was observed. This indicates that Phe-L may be helpful in the differential diagnosis of dystonias.
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Department of Neurology, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany. o.bandmann@sheffield.ac.uk
PMID