RT Book, Section A1 Robottom, Bradley J. A1 Shulman, Lisa M. A1 Weiner, William J. A2 Watts, Ray L. A2 Standaert, David G. A2 Obeso, Jose A. SR Print(0) ID 55796121 T1 Chapter 20. Multiple-System Atrophy T2 Movement Disorders, 3e YR 2012 FD 2012 PB The McGraw-Hill Companies PP New York, NY SN 978-0-07-161312-5 LK neurology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=55796121 RD 2024/03/28 AB The topic multiple-system atrophy (MSA) alerts the reader that a description of a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by predominant involvement of the basal ganglia, cerebellar, and autonomic pathways follows. The uninitiated may be understandably misled by the broad inference of the term MSA. We describe the historical derivation of this appellation, although perhaps we should not dismiss the impulse to reexamine the congruity of this diagnostic subset with the range of patients seen in the clinical setting. The sharp distinction of MSA from the other neurodegenerative processes, as depicted in discrete chapters of this book, belies the challenge facing the clinician when diagnosing the individual patient. Despite the prodigious advances in medicine, MSA and neurodegenerative disorders as a group remain clinical diagnoses, and the heterogeneity of our patients defies simple classification.