Dinâmica do Tremor em Normais e Pacientes Portadores de Doença de Parkinson: Associação entre Entropia e Conteúdo Espectral e Uso Diagnóstico destes Parâmetros

Abstract

Tremor in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a fundamental feature used in the determination of disease onset and progression. In this paper, we examine the effect of PD on the contribution of the high frequency range (16-30 Hz) of the total power of the tremor time series (Pr16-30Hz). The clinical use and the association of Pr16-30Hz with the complexity of the tremor signal, evaluated by using the approximate entropy method (ApEn) were also evaluated. This study involved 21 healthy and 10 PD patients. The Pr16-30Hz was significantly lower in PD patients (p<0.0001). A significant association was observed between Pr16-30Hz and ApEn (p<0,0001; R=0,80). Receiver operator characteristic analysis showed that Pr16-30Hz differentiated physiological tremor from tremor in PD patients with high accuracy. These results are in close agreement with pathophysiological fundamentals, and provide evidence that in PD patients the tremor pattern becomes less complex. Furthermore, our findings also suggest that Pr16-30Hz has a high clinical potential in assessing PD patients.