Pedro García Ruiz Espiga

March 25, 2024

Associate Head of Neurology at HUFJD and Associate Professor of Neurology at UAM. He is a member of the scientific committee of the Spanish Society of Neurology and the European Academy of Neurology. He is also part of the Rare Diseases Task Group of the MDS and recipient of the Gonzalo Lafora Neurology Award. Furthermore, Dr. García has conducted numerous clinical trials, supervised five doctoral theses, and contributed to over 250 scientific publications throughout his career.

Project Summary and Importance for Clinical Practice

Title: Long-Term Parkinson's Disease: What Factors Influence It?

Over the past 30 years, a significant number of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have been treated. While current symptomatic treatments provide substantial quality of life improvements, over time, phenomena appear that are only partially responsive or refractory to medical treatment. After the first decade, most Parkinson's patients present motor and non-motor complications. From a motor perspective, axial problems are particularly notable, including gait blockages and loss of postural reflexes. From a non-motor perspective, cognitive deterioration is likely the most significant factor influencing patient institutionalization. To date, the precise factors that influence disease progression are unknown, although age and genetic components are suspected to play a role in final deterioration.

Over the past 30 years, we have prospectively evaluated hundreds of PD patients, approximately 10% of whom have been treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS) or second-line therapies (Duodopa or apomorphine infusions). Throughout these years, Dr. García's team has reviewed and published different patient series and has gained significant insights into factors contributing to complications at the 5- and 10-year marks, but the factors that contribute to final complications remain unclear. In the context of this intensification support, we propose a study that includes patients with very long-term PD (15-20 years), focusing on the most debilitating complications (axial phenomena and cognitive deterioration), with the goal of identifying the most important long-term progression factors.