Objective: To correlate the clinical and stimulation parameters in patients with PD who have undergone DBS and battery replacement

Background: Battery life depends on the DBS stimulation parameters like amplitude, frequency and stimulation configuration. There is a lack of studies concerning the clinical and technical aspects of battery replacements following DBS surgery in India. We aim to study the stimulation patterns in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who have undergone DBS, the factors leading to battery replacements and correlate them.

Method: The study was performed retrospectively in a regional neurological institute in Bangalore, India. All patient files between 2009 to 2021 were included. Inclusion criteria was that patients should have undergone DBS followed by replacement. Appropriate statistical analytic methods were used with p-value ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant.

Results: A total of 23 patients underwent battery replacements with mean age of onset being 40.6 ± 8.2 years. Mean duration to battery replacement after DBS was 5 ± 1.8 years. All 23 patients opted for a non-rechargeable battery initially whereas 8 (35%) opted for a rechargeable battery at replacement. There was significant negative correlation between age of onset and duration to battery replacement (r= – 0.587, p=0.003). There was significant negative correlation between pulse width settings prior to replacement and battery life (r= – 0.475, p=0.02). There was no significant correlation between amplitude and frequency to the battery life in this study (p=0.51 and p=0.19 respectively). Of the 23 patients, 19 had a monopolar lead configuration while 4 had an interleaving configuration with no difference in duration to battery replacement between the two groups (Z= – 1.307, p=0.19).

Conclusion: This study found a negative correlation between pulse width and the duration to battery replacement. The type of DBS lead configuration did not influence battery drain. The age of onset correlated negatively with the duration to replacement indicating that battery life is longer in younger individuals. This indicates an interplay between clinical and stimulation characteristics influence battery life. Further longitudinal analysis is planned to include patients who had a rechargeable battery placed initially and those with other neurostimulators. Reliable methods are required to estimate the battery life.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/a-study-of-battery-replacement-characteristics-of-patients-with-parkinsons-disease-and-factors-influencing-battery-drain/