Can a heart sensation be related to Parkinsons?

[CGTMHI]

My Mother was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease about 5 years ago - she is 75 years old.  She has no history of heart disease, blood pressure or any other chronic illness.  She has had for the past year or so a "feeling" in her chest in the area of her heart that is cold, not painful, but very unsettling to her.  She has had ECG, EKG, cat scans, etc. with no negative results.  I read recently about some connection to heart sensations with Parkinsons but can't find it again.  The tests were done by her family physician, not her Neurologist.  My question is has anyone ever heard this type of symptom associated with Parkinsons?  

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

Dear Roberta:

Sorry to hear about your mother.  Almost anything can happen in almost any disease process.  However, if your mother has classic Parkinson's and not Parkinsonism, then likely the disease is not causing the cold feeling of the heart.  I am not really sure what you mean by "cold feeling".  The medications used for Parkinson's can give cardiac symptoms such as orthostatic hypotension, bradycardia, etc.  But, these give very distinct symptoms if they happen.  A CAT scan would not be able to detect much in the way of a functional deficit in the heart, and actually would not tell you much about the brain of a Parkinson's patient unless you are suspecting NPH (hydrocephalus), stroke, abcess (abscess), infection or a bleed.  Sorry, that I am not able to help much.

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD

[roberta]

Many thanks for your reply - this is a wonderful forum.  Sometimes the sensation is described as a heaviness in the chest.  Still searching.  Thanks again for your time.

[mapleleafgirl57]

A related discussion, is this parkinsons was started.