Objective: To evaluate the effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on cognition and perceived quality of life in the first cohort of patients undergoing DBS in Ecuador.

Background: Parkinson´s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, clinically characterized by progressive impairment of motor function and associated cognitive decline. DBS of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an effective treatment for improvement of motor symptoms of PD in carefully selected groups of patients. Cognitive worsening following implantation, however, is often a source of concern as there are some reports of cognitive dysfunction following STN DBS.

Methods: 10 patients with idiopathic PD, (mean age 56.30 ± 7.97; mean duration of disease at the time of surgery of 12 ± 4.57 years) were evaluated before bilateral STN DBS and at 18.20 ± 4.23 months postoperatively on measures of verbal memory, phonemic and semantic verbal fluency, attention and working memory, language, executive functioning, visual reasoning and perceived quality of life.

Results: T-tests for paired samples revealed significant differences between means in initial recall of a word list, t (9) = 2.79, p = 0.021, d = .88, and free recall after a short-delay, t (9) = 2.86, p = 0.019, d = .90. No significant pre-and postoperative differences were found in the rest of the cognitive domains studied despite a general trend towards poorer cognitive performance postoperatively. No significant differences were found in measures of phonemic or semantic verbal fluency. Assessment of quality of life revealed significant perceived improvement in symptoms of bodily discomfort, t (9) = 3.003, p = 0.015, d = .94.

Conclusions: We present preliminary results on the cognitive outcomes of bilateral STN DBS in the first group of Ecuadorian patients undergoing DBS treatment for PD. Our evaluation revealed significant worsening of some aspects of memory function, mainly immediate and short-term free recall, with relative preservation of the rest of cognitive domains studied and non-significant decline in verbal fluency. Participants reported significant perceived improvement in symptoms of bodily discomfort. Our results confirm previous reports of cognitive worsening following DBS. Futures studies should focus on identifying possible predictive factors of postsurgical cognitive functioning.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-effects-of-deep-brain-stimulation-for-parkinsons-disease-on-cognition-and-perceived-quality-of-life-preliminary-results-from-an-ecuadorian-sample/