Swallowing Quality of Life After Zona Incerta Deep Brain Stimulation.
OBJECTIVE
The management of Parkinson's disease (PD) has been improved, but management of signs like swallowing problems is still challenging. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) alleviates the cardinal motor symptoms and improves quality of life, but its effect on swallowing is not fully explored. The purpose of this study was to examine self-reported swallowing-specific quality of life before and after caudal zona incerta DBS (cZI DBS) in comparison with a control group.


METHODS
Nine PD patients (2 women and 7 men) completed the self-report Swallowing Quality of Life questionnaire (SWAL-QOL) before and 12 months after cZI DBS surgery. The postoperative data were compared to 9 controls. Median ages were 53 years (range, 40-70 years) for patients and 54 years (range, 42-72 years) for controls.


RESULTS
No significant differences were found between the pre- or postoperative scores. The SWAL-QOL total scores did not differ significantly between PD patients and controls. The PD patients reported significantly lower scores in the burden subscale and the symptom scale.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with PD selected for cZI DBS showed good self-reported swallowing-specific quality of life, in many aspects equal to controls. The cZI DBS did not negatively affect swallowing-specific quality of life in this study.
1 Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Umeå University, Sweden.
Stina
S
Sundstedt
2 Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Neurosciences, Division Neurophysiology, Umeå University, Sweden.
Erik
E
Nordh
3 Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Neurology, Umeå University, Sweden.
Jan
J
Linder
4 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Johanna
J
Hedström
4 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Caterina
C
Finizia
1 Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Umeå University, Sweden.
Katarina
K
Olofsson
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D003679:Deglutition; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D057566:Self Report; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D065820:Zona Incerta
Parkinson’s disease; caudal zona incerta; deep brain stimulation; dysphagia; swallowing quality of life