Objective: The aim of study was to evaluate the impact of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on the motor disabilities and cognitive alterations in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients in comparison to Medical-Therapy-only(MED) and Post-Operative-Patient(POP) groups.

Background: STN-DBS has been claimed to change progression symptoms in animal models of PD, but there are lacking information about the possible neuromodulatory role of STN-DBS in humans.

Methods: DBS-group consisted of 20PD patients (7F,13M) who underwent bilateral STN-DBS. POP-group consisted of 14 post-DBS PD patients (6F,8M) in median 24 month-time after surgery. Control group (MED-group) consisted of 20 patients (11F,9M). UPDRS III scale and RS (reflexive saccades) parameters (latency, amplitude, duration, peak of velocity) were measured during 3 visits in 9±3months periods (V1, V2, V3) in total OFF phase. Cognitive assessment was performed during each visit in ON phase.

Results: The comparable UPDRS III OFF gain in V3/V2/V1 visits (p<0.05) in both MED-group and POP-group was observed. UPDRS III OFF results in DBS-group revealed significant UPDRS III OFF worsening in V2/V1 DBS-group visits (p<0.05) with no UPDRS III OFF change in V3/V2 DBS-group visit. Similar general relations were observed in the increase of RS latencies in V2 compared to V1 DBS-group(p<0.05), but no change in the latency was observed in V3/V2 DBS-group and V3/V2/V1 visits in MED-group and POP-group. Cognitive assessment revealed significant V3/V1 changes between DBS-group and MED-group in verbal fluency tests(p<0.05).

Conclusions: The impact of STN-DBS on UPDRS III OFF, RS latency and cognitive changes can suggest its neuromodulative role, mainly during first 9-18 months after surgery.

« Back to 2018 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/neuromodulatory-role-of-subthalamic-nucleus-deep-brain-stimulation-in-parkinsons-disease-patients/