ABSTRACT
James Parkinson, in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, remarked on a man who “fetched his breath rather hard.”1 Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects the respiratory tract at all levels from the upper airway down to the pulmonary tissue itself. Pneumonia and pulmonary embolism are the most frequent cause of death both in historical2 and more contemporary series.3-6 This chapter reviews the effects of PD on the pulmonary system at all levels and includes difficulties due to the disease itself, as well as complications related to medical and surgical therapy of PD.
