%0 Journal Article %A Marjolein B Aerts %A Rianne A J Esselink %A Bart Post %A Bart P C van de Warrenburg %A Bastiaan R Bloem %T Improving the diagnostic accuracy in parkinsonism: a three-pronged approach %D 2012 %R 10.1136/practneurol-2011-000132 %J Practical Neurology %P 77-87 %V 12 %N 2 %X Separating Parkinson's disease from the various causes of atypical parkinsonism (AP) is a common and clinically relevant challenge in clinical practice. Distinguishing between the different causes of AP is even more difficult. Here the authors discuss a systematic, clinically based and three-pronged approach that can assist clinicians in establishing the correct diagnosis in the consulting room. The three consecutive steps include: (1) to verify that the clinical syndrome truly represents parkinsonism (hypokinetic–rigid syndrome); (2) to search systematically for ‘red flags’ (alarm signs that may signal the presence of AP); and (3) to integrate these two steps, as a basis for a narrow differential diagnosis and a guide for further ancillary tests. %U https://pn.bmj.com/content/practneurol/12/2/77.full.pdf