Eight-year follow-up outcome of subthalamic deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease: Maintenance of therapeutic efficacy with a relatively low levodopa dosage and stimulation intensity

Long-Term Effects of Subthalamic Stimulation on Motor Symptoms and Quality of Life in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting both motor functions and quality of life (QoL). This study compared motor symptoms and QoL in patients with PD before and at 1 and 5 years after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) surgery in Taiwan. This study included 53 patients with PD undergoing STN-DBS. The motor symptoms improved by 39.71 ± 26.52% and 18.83 ± 37.15% in the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part II and by 36.83 ± 22.51% and 22.75 ± 36.32% in the UPDRS part III at 1 and 5 years after STN-DBS in the off-medication/on-stimulation state, respectively. The Hoehn and Yahr stage significantly improved at the 1-year follow-up but declined progressively and returned to the baseline stage 5 years post-surgery. The Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living improved and sustained for 5 years following STN-DBS. Levodopa equivalent daily dose decreased by 35.32 ± 35.87% and 15.26 ± 65.76% at 1 and 5 years post-surgery, respectively. The QoL revealed significant improvement at 1 year post-surgery; however, patients regressed to near baseline levels 5 years post-surgery. The long-term effects of STN-DBS on motor symptoms were maintained over 5 years after STN-DBS surgery. At the same time, STN-DBS had no long-lasting effect on QoL. The study findings will enable clinicians to become more aware of visible and invisible manifestations of PD.

Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Treats Parkinson's Disease Patients with Cardiovascular Disease Comorbidity: A Retrospective Study of a Single Center Experience

Background: Subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective method for treating Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, safety of STN-DBS treating PD patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) comorbidity is rarely focused and reported. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of STN-DBS treating PD patients with CVD comorbidity. Methods: We retrospectively included PD patients with CVD comorbidity who underwent STN-DBS under general anesthesia in our center from January 2019 to January 2021. Patient’s PD symptoms and cardiopulmonary function were evaluated by a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) before surgery. Post-operative clinical outcome and complications were collected until 1-year follow-up. Results: A total of 38 patients (26 men/12 women) of mean body mass index (BMI) 24.36 ± 3.11 kg/m2, with different CVD comorbidity were finally speculated in the study. These CVD include mainly hypertension, coronary artery disease, thoracic aortic aneurysm, heart valve replacement, pacemaker implantation, atrial fibrillation, patent foramen ovale, and so on. The mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 38 patients at admission day, pre-operation day, and discharge day timepoint was 135.63 ± 18.08 mmHg, 137.66 ± 12.26 mmHg, and 126.87 ± 13.36 mmHg, respectively. This showed that blood pressure was controlled well under stable and normal state. The indicators of myocardial infarction Troponin T (Tn T-T) levels at pre-operation, 1 day and 7 days after operation timepoint were 0.014 ± 0.011 ng/mL, 0.015 ± 0.011 ng/mL, and 0.014 ± 0.008 ng/mL, showing no significant fluctuation (F = 0.038, p = 0.962). STN-DBS improved PD patients’ UPDRS III scores by 51.38% (t = 12.33, p < 0.0001) at 1-year follow-up compared with pre-operative baseline. A total of 11 adverse events were recorded until 1-year follow-up. No obvious cardiovascular complications such as intracranial hematoma or clot-related events occurred within 1 year after surgery except 1 case of hematuria. Conclusions: STN-DBS under general anesthesia is safe and effective for treating PD patients with CVD comorbidity. Our clinical experience and protocol of the MDT offers comprehensive perioperative evaluation for DBS surgery and mitigates bleeding and cardiovascular-associated events in PD patients with CVD comorbidity.

The effect of age and disease duration on the efficacy of subthalamic nuclei deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease patients

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have reported the effects of age and disease duration on the efficacy of subthalamic nuclei deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. However, available data involving these issues are not consistent. In particular, the effect of age and disease duration on the initial efficacy of STN-DBS has not been established.

METHODS

A total of 51 patients with PD treated with bilateral STN-DBS were involved in the present study. They received clinical symptom evaluation during the preoperative, initial, and chronic stages of surgery. The correlations between age when undergoing surgery/age at disease onset/disease duration and outcomes of STN-DBS were measured.

RESULTS

The preoperative levodopa response was negatively associated with age. During the initial stage, the age when undergoing surgery and age at disease onset were negatively correlated with the effect on bradykinesia, with better symptom control of general symptoms in long-term disease patients. Similarly, patients with an early time of surgery and disease onset and long-term disease duration showed better control of bradykinesia and axial symptoms at the chronic stage. Furthermore, a long-term disease duration and early disease onset benefited from an increase of therapeutic efficacy in general, rigid, and axial symptoms with STN-DBS after a long period. Nevertheless, patients with late disease onset achieved a better relief of stigma.

CONCLUSION

Age and disease durations played a unique role in controlling the symptoms of PD patients treated with STN-DBS. These results may contribute to patient selection and adjustments of expectations of surgery, based on the age, disease duration, and different symptoms.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation programming settings do not correlate with Parkinson's disease severity

BACKGROUND

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a well-established treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). While the success of DBS is dependent on careful patient selection and accurate lead placement, programming parameters play a pivotal role in tailoring therapy on the individual level. Various algorithms have been developed to streamline the initial programming process, but the relationship between pre-operative patient characteristics and post-operative device settings is unclear. In this study, we investigated how PD severity correlates with DBS settings.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective review of PD patients who underwent DBS of the subthalamic nucleus at one US tertiary care center between 2014 and 2018. Pre-operative patient characteristics and post-operative programming data at various intervals were collected. Disease severity was measured using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score (UPDRS) as well as levodopa equivalent dose (LED). Correlation analyses were conducted looking for associations between pre-operative disease severity and post-operative programming parameters.

RESULTS

Fifty-six patients were analyzed. There was no correlation between disease severity and any of the corresponding programming parameters. Pre-operative UPDRS scores on medication were similar to post-operative scores with DBS. Settings of amplitude, frequency, and pulse width increased significantly from 1 to 6 months post-operatively. Stimulation volume, inferred by the distance between contacts used, also increased significantly over time.

CONCLUSIONS

Interestingly, we found that patients with more advanced disease responded to electrical stimulation similarly to patients with less advanced disease. These data provide foundational knowledge of DBS programming parameters used in a single cohort of PD patients over time.