Book Review: Handbook of Atypical Parkinsonism

Authors: Carlo Colosimo, MD, Università degli Studi di Roma 'La Sapienza', Italy
 David E. Riley, MD, Department of Neurology Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA
 Gregor K. Wenning, MD, PhD, Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria
 Cambridge University Press (2011)
 
Review by Kelvin L. Chou, MD
 Thomas H. and Susan C. Brown Early Career Professor
 Associate Professor, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery
 University of Michigan Medical School
 
September 2013
 
This small, concise book manages to pack in a lot of up-to-date information on the clinical features, genetics, pathology, and management of the atypical Parkinsonisms. It is an important accomplishment, as these disorders are typically only superficially covered in the major textbooks on Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. It definitely should appeal to the members of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
 
Busy clinicians will especially like this book, as it is very clinically oriented. Numerous photos, illustrating many of the typical clinical features, are spaced throughout the book to help those clinicians who don’t often see these disorders. Additionally, the text is concise and clear, making it an easy read.
 
There is a chapter for each of the major atypical Parkinsonisms: the Lewy body disorders, multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration, and the chapters are organized similarly, making it a snap to find information. The chapter on “other causes” of Parkinsonism is a nice touch for such a small book – in different hands, it probably would have just appeared as a table in the differential diagnosis chapter. I also like that the last chapter is devoted solely to non-pharmacological management, especially since truly effective medications for these disorders are virtually non-existent.
 
Although the book came out in 2011, the information is still current. The "Handbook of Atypical Parkinsonism" is a nice complement to the other movement disorders texts out there. Kudos to the editors!