Abstract

The appendix may be a key site for the initiation of Parkinson's disease (PD) pathology. We examined the hypothesis that appendectomy is associated with lower PD risk.We used Danish medical and administrative registries to construct a cohort of all patients in Denmark with an operation code of appendectomy during 1980-2010 (n?=?265,758) and a matched general population comparison cohort (n?=?1,328,790). Using Cox regression, we computed hazard ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals for PD, adjusting for potential confounders and stratifying on age at appendectomy (=45 years /?>?45 years), sex, and follow-up time.During follow-up (?>?10 years), PD incidence was 0.19 and 0.15 per 1,000 person-years at risk in the appendectomy cohort and in the general population comparison cohort, respectively, yielding a slightly increased risk of PD (adjusted hazard ratio?=?1.14; 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.27). Findings were consistent after more than 20 years of follow-up and when stratified on age of appendectomy and sex.Appendectomy was associated with a small increase in PD risk 10 or more years after surgery. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

View details for DOI 10.1002/mds.26761

View details for Web of Science ID 000393123200025

View details for PubMedID 27621223