Idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour (iRBD) is considered as a risk factor for Parkinson\'s disease (PD) development. Evaluation of repetitive movements with finger tapping, which serves as a principal task to measure the extent of bradykinesia in PD, may undercover potential PD patients. The aim of this study was to explore whether finger tapping abnormalities, evaluated with a 3D motion capture system, are already present in RBD patients.
Finger tapping data was acquired using a contactless 3D motion capture system from 40 RBD subjects and compared to 25 de-novo PD patients and 25 healthy controls. Objective assessment of amplitude decrement, maximum opening velocity and their combination representing finger tapping decrement was performed in the sequence of the first ten tapping movements. The association between instrumental finger tapping data and semi-quantitative clinical evaluation was analyzed.
While significant differences between PD and controls were found for all investigated finger tapping measures (p < 0.002), RBD differed from controls in finger tapping amplitude (p = 0.004) and velocity (p = 0.007) decrement but not in maximal opening velocity. A significant relationship between the motor score from the Movement Disorders Society - Unified Parkinson\'s Disease Rating Scale and finger tapping decrement was shown for both patient groups, ie RBD (r = 0.36, p = 0.02) and PD (r = 0.60, p = 0.002).
In our group of RBD patients we demonstrated amplitude decrement of repetitive movements, which may correspond with prodromal bradykinesia. Our findings suggest instrumental analysis of finger tapping abnormalities as a potential novel clinical marker reflecting subclinical motor disturbances in RBD.

Andersen-Tawil syndrome (ATS) is a rare multisystem channelopathy characterized by periodic paralysis, ventricular arrhythmias, and developmental dysmorphology. There are few reports concerning ATS in the Chinese population. We analyzed clinical features and evaluated the long exercise test as a tool for diagnosis of periodic paralysis in ATS.
Direct sequencing of KCNJ2 was performed in 12 subjects from mainland China with suspected ATS. Clinical features, therapeutic responses, and long exercise tests (LET) were retrospectively analyzed.
Twelve patients were genetically confirmed to have ATS. A small mandible and clinodactyly were demonstrated in all patients. Premature ventricular contractions were the most prevalent form of cardiac arrhythmia. The LET revealed an early amplitude decrement.
Chinese ATS patients shared some common clinical features with reported subjects in other countries. An early amplitude decrement in LET may be useful for diagnosis of ATS. Muscle Nerve 54: 1059-1063, 2016.