Definition:

Parkinsonian syndromes (PS) are multisystemic diseases that produce not only motor and cognitive function impairment, but also other disorders that require the intervention of specialists other than the neurologist. PS include idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and vascular Parkinsonism (VaP), among other rarer causes of parkinsonism. Point mutations, duplications and triplications in the alpha-synuclein gene cause a rare dominant form of PS in families. Mutations in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene have been identified as a much more common cause for dominant PS, especially in certain ethnic groups, while mutations in the parkin gene, in DJ-1, PINK1 and ATP13A2 cause autosomal recessive parkinsonism of early onset.