Objective: Our aim was to assess the changes in quality of life after bilateral subthalamic stimulation in our patients with Parkinson’s disease and to analyze its clinical associations.

Background: In the Neuromodulation Centre in Budapest, we have performed 59 DBS implantations in movement disorders since 2009. Thirty-four patients have been operated with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Methods: Twenty-eight patients with Parkinson’s disease (18 females, 10 males), who had a follow-up visit one year after the operation, were enrolled in the study. Each patient underwent a bilateral DBS lead and pulse generator implantation simultaneously. Electrophysiological mapping was executed with five microelectrodes; clinical symptoms were controlled through macrostimulation. Clinical characteristics were measured by the Unified Parkinson’s disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the 39-item Parkinson’s disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) the Schwab-England Activities of Daily Living Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). For statistical analysis, we used the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Spearman’s rank correlation.

Results: At the time of operation, the mean age of the patients was 60±8.8 years (mean±standard deviation) with the disease duration of 12±5.3 years. The measured scores have changed with subthalamic stimulation as follows [pre-/postoperative; median (interquartile range)]: the UPDRS total scores: 63(42)/21(5), p<0.001; the Schwab-England scores: 60(30)/80(20), p<0.001; the BDI scores: 8(8)/9(9.5), p=0.46; the PDQ-39 total scores: 29(13.4)/23.45(15.10), p=0.002. There was a significant improvement in every PDQ-39 item except the Emotional Well-being, the Communication and the Stigma. The postoperative PDQ-39 total score correlated with disease duration at the time of operation (r= -0.434 p=0.04) and with the postoperative scores of the UPDRS I (r=0.434, p=0.04), the UPDRS IV (r=0.67 p=0.001), the Schwab-England scale (r=-0.6 p=0.003) and the BDI (r=0.595, p=0.006).

Conclusions: The health-related quality of life significantly improved after operation; which was significantly related to the disease duration at the time of operation, the postoperative cognitive function, the mood and the motor fluctuations in our patients. There was a significant development in all of the PDQ-39 items, except for the Emotional Well-being, the Communication and the Stigma.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/efficacy-of-the-bilateral-subthalamic-stimulation-in-parkinsons-disease-results-from-the-neuromodulation-centre-in-budapest/