Objective: To evaluate the effect of bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation( STN DBS) on motor control, quality of life (QOL) and cognition in a cohort of Indian PD patients

Background: Parkinson,s disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder which becomes disabling in advanced stages. Deep brain stimulation is known to be efficacious.

Methods: 40 consecutive patients with idiopathic PD treated with bilateral STN stimulation were enrolled. The primary end points were the changes from baseline ( pre operative) to six months (post- operative) in the scores of quality of life, as assessed by the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), and the severity of symptoms according to the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, part III (UPDRS-III) and cognitive dysfunction as assessed by Montreal cognitive assessment scale (MOCA) in on and off medication states.

Results: In the off- medication state, compared with preoperative off scores, STN stimulation reduced the total UPDRS- III motor score by 35% (P< 0.0001). Tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, speech, gait  improved by 35%,36%,31%,25%,24%  respectively. In the on-medication state, compared with preoperative on scores, STN stimulation reduced the total UPDRS motor score by 23%. Rigidity, tremor, bradykinesia improved by 32%,18% and 17% respectively. There was no significant improvement in postural instability. There was no change in the pre and post-operative MOCA scores (28.6 vs 28.4 ). In the MOCA subs-cores there was reduction in the verbal fluency as compared to baseline (0.97 vs 0.72). The total PDQ -39 scores were markedly improved in patients after STN stimulation by 49%(P< 0.0001) as compared to baseline. The improvement was observed for all the PDQ-39 sub-scores except for social support. 

Conclusions: Our data confirm that bilateral STN stimulation is beneficial to PD patients as it improves the quality of life and UPDRS- III motor scores without causing any neurocognitive decline.

« Back to 2017 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/effect-of-bilateral-subthalamic-nucleus-deep-brain-stimulation-on-quality-of-life-in-advanced-parkinsons-disease-patients/