Objective: To test the efficacy of a single theta burst cerebellar stimulation on postural instability in progressive supranuclear palsy using a cross-over design and wearing sensors technology

Background: there are no medical effective treatments for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Imaging, neurophysiology and pathology studies suggested cerebellum as possible target of brain stimulation for postural instability using theta Burst repetitive Transcranial magnetic stimulation

Method: Eighteen patients with PSP entered in a cross-over sham-controlled study. Each patient underwent a sham stimulation or a single session of cerebellar theta burst stimulation (after at least two weeks of time ). Each patient was evaluated before and after stimulation by berg balance tests (BBS), PSP-rating scale (PSP-RS) and functional tests wearing movement-sensors including standing in open, semitandem and tandem positions with eyes open and closed.

Results: There was not significant differences in BBS and PSP-RS and open stance tests in sham vs real stimulation sessions. Active stimulation was associated with significantly improvement of time without falls (p=0.04) and distance from center of balance (COB) (p=0.008) in tandem position. In semitandem position, real stimulation was associated with significant reduction of COB (p=0.02) compared to sham stimulation.

Conclusion: Single theta-burst stimulation showed significant improvement in a double-blind design only using high-sensitive tests and postural instability objective measures using wearing sensors technology. The promising results suggest to evaluate longer trials for postural instability and falls in PSP patients.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/cerebellar-rtms-theta-burst-for-postural-instability-in-progressive-supranuclear-palsy-a-double-blind-cross-over-sham-controlled-study-using-wearing-sensors-technology/