Introduction

This section will discuss the clinical evaluation and diagnosis of patients with Parkinson's disease. The focus will be on the common components of the patient evaluation, which include:

1. History
2. Examination
3. Administration of antiparkinsonian medications such as levodopa or other agent
4. Performance of a brain MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or brain CT (computed tomography) scan
5. Nuclear imaging such as PET (positron emission tomography) and SPECT (single photon emission computerized tomography) scans, which are used in rare diagnostic instances, but often in research.