title: Neuropsychologic assessment of patients for movement disorder surgery.
abstract: The neuropsychologic evaluation of patients under consideration for movement disorder surgery is recognized as being an essential component of the preoperative process. Patients with early-stage concomitant dementia must be identified and the relative risk of postoperative cognitive decline evaluated. Knowledge of the patterns of an individual's strengths and weaknesses might also be a factor in deciding on a neurosurgical procedure. Although the advent of pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS) has possibly resulted in reduced risk of induced cognitive impairment, even this procedure has been associated with negative sequelae. DBS within the subthalamic nucleus is becoming the method of choice and this may lead to cognitive and behavioral compromise, especially in the elderly patient. The team considering the establishment of neurosurgical treatment is often at a loss to decide how much neuropsychologic testing is required to determine relative risks of cognitive or behavioral morbidity as a consequence of the procedure. A brief summary of expected outcome and of pertinent family process and psychodynamic issues are addressed. This article is intended to serve as a guide to permit clinicians to choose the appropriate length and depth of neuropsychologic assessment, but also to highlight the confounding factors often present in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Saint-Cyr
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Trépanier
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D001288:Attention; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000601:surgery; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009048:Motor Skills; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D018579:Patient Selection