Category: Parkinson's Disease: Surgical Therapy
Objective: To determine pre-surgery (e.g., motor phenotype), during-surgery (e.g., electrodes’ position), and post-surgery (e.g., stimulation parameters) factors predicting DBS-induced effects on axial symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD), we set up a retrospective data collection involving reference DBS centers all over the world.
Background: STN-DBS can reduce tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia in PwPD1,2, but its effects on axial symptoms (e.g., postural instability and gait impairment) remain unclear and variable in direction and size3,4. Factors like electrode positioning, clinical phenotype, and stimulation parameters may influence the treatment’s effectiveness3, but the large heterogeneity and inter-patient variability require large datasets to answer the question.
Method: We organized a retrospective database for the assessments of socio-demographic, clinical (motor and non-motor), medical (e.g., anamnestic, pharmacological), and stimulation characteristics in PwPD under DBS therapy involving 7 centers, with specific attention to data de-identification. Composite UPDRS (or MDS-UPDRS) axial score5,6 at 3 time intervals (1-5 months, 6-12 months, 13-18 months) were considered as the primary outcome.
Results: At the present stage, we collected full data from 105 PwPD from 5 out of 7 centers, mostly male (n=72, 66.9%) and tremor-dominant (n=49, 46.2%). Onset occurred in the range of 41-50 years (n=42, 40%) and 31-40 (n=24, 22.9%), with a slight predominance of left-side onset (n=52, 49.1%). DBS surgery was performed in the age range of 51-60 years in 45% of cases (n = 48), after 1-10 years of disease history in 50% of cases (n=53) and 11-20 years in 45% (n=47). Levodopa Equivalent Daily Dose (LEDD) showed high variability, with a mean ± SD of 1353.3 ± 706.1mg. Pre-surgery motor function assessments (MDS-UPDRS III) showed a mean ± SD score of 36.8 ± 13.9 and 19.55 ± 10.11 in, respectively, OFF-med and ON-med state.
Conclusion: This is the first attempt to build a multicenter, large, and harmonized data collection to answer open questions in DBS and represents a first step towards an in-depth understanding of DBS effects across countries.
References: 1 Limousin, P. et al. Nature Reviews Neurology 2019 15:4 15, 234–242 (2019)
2 Conway, Z. J. et al. Movement Disorders Clinical Practice 6, 17–26 (2019)
3 Fasano, A. et al. Nat Rev Neurol 11, 98–110 (2015)
4 Bucur, M. et al. Neuropsychol Rev 33, 307–346 (2023)
5 Martínez-Fernández, R. et al. Neurology 100, e1395–e1405 (2023)
6 Goetz, C. G. et al. Movement Disorders 27, 1239–1242 (2012)
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
M. Guidetti, S. Marceglia, P. Andrade, S. Babakry, MT. Barbe, T. Bocci, F. Bodlee, S. Bonvegna, H. Bronte-Stewart, S. Cascino, CE. Casselton, A. Fasano, M. Fumagalli, S. Giannoni-Luza, IU. Isaias, H. Jergas, MLF. Janssen, AM. Lozano, NV. Maiorana, N. Modugno, S. Oliveri, D. Pedrosa, M. Santilli, Y. Temel, L. Timmermann, D. Urso, V. Visser-Vandewalle, A. Priori. A Retrospective, Multicenter, Harmonized Data Collection for Uncovering DBS Long-Term Axial Response [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2025; 40 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/a-retrospective-multicenter-harmonized-data-collection-for-uncovering-dbs-long-term-axial-response/. Accessed October 22, 2026.« Back to 2025 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/a-retrospective-multicenter-harmonized-data-collection-for-uncovering-dbs-long-term-axial-response/