This explanation is only intended to show the difficultness of establishing a MSA diagnosis. For additional questions, please refer to your treating physician.
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is an adult-onset progressive neurodegenerative disorder that manifests clinically with autonomic failure, parkinsonism, and ataxia in any combination.
Currently, the second consensus criteria for an MSA diagnosis is used. However, it faces important problems such as poor diagnostic sensitivity and less than optimal specificity, especially at the early disease stages.
Below you can see a list of possible symptoms sometimes associated with a diagnosis of multiple system atrophy, which should be kept in mind by the physician. These symptoms could be a result of different disorders. Therefore, it takes an astute physician to draw out the correct diagnosis.
