Effect of bilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus on freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease.
OBJECTIVE
A prospective cohort study to evaluate the efficacy of bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on freezing of gait (FOG) in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease.


METHODS
Patients (n = 10) with advanced Parkinson's disease were surgically  implanted with microelectrodes to facilitate STN-DBS. Evaluations of FOG, motor function, activities of daily living and neuropsychological function were carried out in on-medication and off-medication states (with and without levodopa treatment), before surgery and at 6 and 12 months postoperatively.


RESULTS
STN-DBS was associated with significant improvement in FOG score and neuropsychological function at both 6 and 12 months postoperatively, compared with preoperatively. Significant postoperative improvements were also observed in motor function and activities of daily living. Daily  levodopa dosage was significantly lower at both 6 and 12 months postoperatively.


CONCLUSIONS
STN-DBS improved FOG in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. The significant reduction in levodopa dosage and improvement in neuropsychological function may be the reason for the therapeutic  effect seen with STN-DBS.
Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
L
L
Niu
L-Y
LY
Ji
J-M
JM
Li
D-S
DS
Zhao
G
G
Huang
W-P
WP
Liu
Y
Y
Qu
L-T
LT
Ma
X-T
XT
Ji
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000503:physiopathology*
D007980:Levodopa