Freezing of gait after bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation for Parkinson's disease.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the long-term effect of bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) on freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease patients.


METHODS
Sixty-seven patients were followed 12 months after bilateral STN DBS and 32 patients were followed 24 months post-surgery. Patients were evaluated with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) with medications on and off at baseline and again in both conditions with stimulation on at follow-up. Specific attention was paid to the freezing item of the ADL section.


RESULTS
Freezing scores in the medication off state improved significantly with stimulation at 1 and 2 years. In the medication on state there were no significant improvements in freezing.


CONCLUSIONS
Off period freezing of gait is significantly improved with STN DBS up to 24 months; however, on period freezing is not affected by STN DBS.
Davis
Justin T
JT
University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Neurology, 3599 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
Lyons
Kelly E
KE
Pahwa
Rajesh
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*