Bilateral subthalamic deep brain stimulation is an effective and safe treatment option for the older patients with Parkinson’s disease

Deep brain stimulation in the globus pallidus alleviates motor activity defects and abnormal electrical activities of the parafascicular nucleus in parkinsonian rats

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD). The most common sites targeted for DBS in PD are the globus pallidus internal (GPi) and subthalamic nucleus (STN). However, STN-DBS and GPi-DBS have limited improvement in some symptoms and even aggravate disease symptoms. Therefore, discovering new targets is more helpful for treating refractory symptoms of PD. Therefore, our study selected a new brain region, the lateral globus pallidus (GP), as the target of DBS, and the study found that GP-DBS can improve motor symptoms. It has been reported that the thalamic parafascicular (PF) nucleus is strongly related to PD pathology. Moreover, the PF nucleus and GP have very close direct and indirect fiber connections. However, whether GP-DBS can change the activity of the PF remains unclear. Therefore, in this study, we monitored the activity changes in the PF nucleus in PD rats during a quiet awake state after GP-DBS. We found that GP-DBS could reverse the electrical activity of the PF nucleus in PD model rats, including the discharge pattern of the neurons and the local field potential (0.7–12 and 12–70 Hz). Based on the results mentioned above, PF activity in PD model rats could be changed by GP-DBS. Thus, the normalization of PF neuronal activity may be a potential mechanism for GP-DBS in the treatment of PD; these findings lay the foundation for PD treatment strategies.

Perioperative complications of deep brain stimulation among patients with advanced age: a single-institution retrospective analysis

OBJECTIVE

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an elective procedure that can dramatically enhance quality of life. Because DBS is not considered lifesaving, it is important that providers produce consistently good outcomes, and one factor they usually consider is patient age. While older age may be a relative contraindication for some elective surgeries, the progressive nature of movement disorders treated with DBS may suggest that older patients stand to benefit substantially from surgery. To better understand the risks of treating patients of advanced age with DBS, this study compares perioperative complication rates in patients ≥ 75 to those < 75 years old.

METHODS

Patients undergoing DBS surgery for various indications by a single surgeon (May 2013-July 2019) were stratified into elderly (age ≥ 75 years) and younger (age < 75 years) cohorts. The risks of common perioperative complications and various outcome measures were compared between the two age groups using risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS

A total of 861 patients were available for analysis: 179 (21%) were ≥ 75 years old and 682 (79%) were < 75 years old (p < 0.001). Patients ≥ 75 years old, compared with those < 75 years old, did not have significantly different RRs (95% CIs) of seizure (RR 0.4, 95% CI 0.1-3.3), cerebrovascular accident (RR 1.9, 95% CI 0.4-10.3), readmission within 90 days of discharge (RR 1.22, 95% CI 0.8-1.8), explantation due to infection (RR 2.5, 95% CI 0.4-15.1), or surgical revision (for lead, RR 2.5, 95% CI 0.4-15.1; for internal pulse generator, RR 3.8, 95% CI 0.2-61.7). Although the risk of postoperative intracranial bleeding was higher in the elderly group (6.1%) than in the younger group (3.1%), this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.06). However, patients ≥ 75 years old did have significantly increased risk of altered mental status (RR 2.5, 95% CI 1.6-4.0), experiencing more than a 1-night stay (RR 1.7, 95% CI 1.4-2.0), and urinary retention (RR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.2; p = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONS

Although elderly patients had higher risks of certain outcome measures than younger patients, this study showed that elderly patients undergoing DBS for movement disorders did not have an increased risk of more serious complications, such as intracranial hemorrhage, infection, or readmission. Advanced age alone should not be considered a contraindication for DBS.

Estimating the Risk of Deep Brain Stimulation in the Modern Era: 2008 to 2020

BACKGROUND

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) was first approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1997. Although the fundamentals of DBS remain the same, hardware, software, and imaging have evolved significantly.

OBJECTIVE

To test our hypothesis that the aggregate complication rate in the medical literature in the past 12 years would be lower than what is often cited based on early experience with DBS surgery.

METHODS

PubMed, PsycINFO, and EMBASE were queried for studies from 2008 to 2020 that included patients treated with DBS from 2007 to 2019. This yielded 34 articles that evaluated all complications of DBS surgery, totaling 2249 patients.

RESULTS

The overall complication rate in this study was 16.7% per patient. There was found to be a systemic complication rate of 0.89%, intracranial complication rate of 2.7%, neurological complication rate of 4.6%, hardware complication rate of 2.2%, and surgical site complication rate of 3.4%. The infection and erosion rate was 3.0%.

CONCLUSION

This review suggests that surgical complication rates have decreased since the first decade after DBS was first FDA approved. Understanding how to minimize complications from the inception of a technique should receive more attention.

Claims of Safety in Neurosurgical Literature: We Shouldn't Call Something Safe Without Strong Justification

BACKGROUND

Many articles published in the neurosurgical literature make claims of safety regarding interventions. The strength of evidence supporting these claims has not been systematically evaluated.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the quality of evidence supporting claims of safety in the neurosurgery literature.

METHODS

The 14 neurosurgical journals listed in the Web of Science database with the highest impact factors for 2018 were included in the study. The titles and abstracts of all the articles published in these journals in 2018 were searched for the word "safety" and reviewed by 2 independent observers to identify those making a claim of safety and assess their evidence.

RESULTS

The search identified 323 articles, representing 5% of the articles published in the 14 searched journals in 2018. Of these, 114 (1.8% of all articles and 35% of the identified articles) were judged to make a claim of safety of a neurosurgical intervention. A total of 98 (86%) of the 114 articles making a safety claim were retrospective cohort studies. Patient cohort sizes ranged from 1 to 1565 (median of 34), leading to wide variations in the CIs for estimated complication rates. No article made a statement of the assumptions underlying its claim of safety.

CONCLUSION

Almost no articles that make claims of safety for neurosurgical interventions explicitly state the (1) patient population, (2) comparison intervention, nor (3) specific outcomes. To assure that claims of safety are supported by high-quality evidence, authors should address these elements early and systematically when designing studies.

Pre-dopa Deep Brain Stimulation: Is Early Deep Brain Stimulation Able to Modify the Natural Course of Parkinson's Disease?

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established therapy for the management of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, DBS is indicated as the disease progresses and motor complications derived from pharmacological therapy arise. Here, we evaluate the potential of DBS prior to levodopa (L-Dopa) in improving quality of life (QoL), challenging the state of the art for DBS therapy. We present data on clinical manifestation, decision finding during early indication to DBS, and trajectories after DBS. We further discuss current paradigms for DBS and hypothesize on possible mechanisms. Six patients, between 50 and 67 years old, presenting at least 5 years of PD symptoms, and without L-Dopa therapy initiation, received subthalamic nucleus (STN) DBS implantation. In the six PD cases, indication for DBS was not driven by motor complications, as supported by current guidelines, but by relevant QoL impairment and patient’s reluctance to initiate L-Dopa treatment. All patients treated with STN-DBS prior to L-Dopa presented improvement in motor and non-motor symptoms and significant QoL improvement. All patients reduced the intake of dopamine agonists, and five are currently free from L-Dopa medication, with no reported adverse events. We introduce a multicenter observational study to investigate whether early DBS treatment may affect the natural course of PD. Early application of DBS instead of L-Dopa administration could have a pathophysiological basis and be prompted by a significant incline on QoL through disease progression; however, the clinical value of this proposed paradigm shift should be addressed in clinical trials aimed at modulating the natural course of PD.