One decade ago, one decade ahead in progressive supranuclear palsy

Mov Disord. 2019 Sep;34(9):1284-1293. doi: 10.1002/mds.27788. Epub 2019 Jul 8.

Abstract

Fifty-five years have passed from the first description of PSP, but it is in the last decade that there has been a revolutionary change in understanding both clinical and pathophysiological aspects of this disease. Ten years ago, our knowledge about the clinical spectrum and pathophysiology of the disease was quite limited, and there was no credible clinical study on any drug treatment for this devastating disease. Today, we have discovered the wide clinical spectrum of PSP, and this led to the development of new diagnostic criteria in 2017, aiming to diagnose the disease earlier and include more phenotypes into clinical studies. Moreover, just over the past 10 years, numerous large, double-blind, clinical trials with disease-modifying agents have been conducted that provided important novel insights into disease biomarkers and progression. These studies were possible because of gained novel insights into pathophysiological processes of the disease and pave the way for the near future. In the next decade, we dare to predict the discovery of biomarkers for PSP, improvements in diagnosis using the new criteria in combination with these biomarkers, and ultimately the development of a neuroprotective therapy that could be applied to patients in a prodromal stage and spare them from this devastating disorder. © 2019 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Keywords: diagnosis; pathophysiology; progressive supranuclear palsy; therapeutics.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Forecasting
  • History, 21st Century
  • Humans
  • Parkinsonian Disorders / diagnosis
  • Parkinsonian Disorders / history
  • Parkinsonian Disorders / therapy
  • Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / diagnosis
  • Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / history
  • Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / therapy*