No abstract

Therapy with STN-DBS improves motor symptoms in PD without any clinically relevant neuropsychological deterioration.

Bilateral STN stimulation safely improves all parkinsonian symptoms, decreases or eliminates the need for levodopa, and ameliorates motor fluctuations and dyskinesias. Complete withdrawal of levodopa is feasible with this technique and the overall motor effect of STN stimulation is quantitatively comparable to that obtained with levodopa.

We examined the impact of the subthalamic nuclei (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) on the health-related quality of life (QoL) of patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). Seventeen consecutive patients with refractory motor fluctuations and dyskinesia were included in the study (mean age, 60.9 +/- 7.7 years [range, 43-74 years]; disease duration, 16.4 +/- 8.5 years [range, 7-38 years]; mean off-medication Hoehn and Yahr stage, 4.23 +/- 0.66 [range, 2.5-5]). Each patient's assessment was carried out using common rating scales, following the Core Assessment Program for Intracerebral Transplantation (CAPIT) protocol. Dyskinesia and emotional state were evaluated through the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). QoL was assessed by means of the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire Spanish version (PDQ-39). Significant benefit was obtained in the motor manifestations and complications of disease, as well as in the functional state and mood (P < 0.001). Some QoL dimensions (mobility and activities of daily living) and the PDQ-39 Summary Index (PDQ-39SI) showed a significant improvement (P < 0.001). Benefit was modest (P < 0.05) for three other domains (emotional well-being, stigma, bodily discomfort) and nil for the rest. There was no correlation between the change obtained in the QoL (PDQ-39SI) and in the other variables. As measured by the PDQ-39, STN-DBS significantly improves important aspects of QoL in patients with advanced PD.

Objective: To evaluate the sleep symptoms and polysomnographic architecture in advanced Parkinson's disease after chronic bilateral subthalamic stimulation (STN-DBS). Methods: Sleep was studied in 11 patients (six women and five men; mean (SD) age 63.6 (7.8) years) who underwent STN-DBS. Subjective sleep evaluation was assessed by clinical sleep interview and the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) questionnaire, and sleep architecture by polysomnography with audiovisual recording. Nocturnal mobility was evaluated. Results: Before surgery, eight patients rated their sleep quality as unsatisfactory; seven of these had a marked improvement after surgery, and the PSQI questionnaire showed significantly improved sleep quality. After surgery, polysomnography showed an increase in the longest period of uninterrupted sleep and a decrease in the arousal index. There was an increase in nocturnal mobility after surgery, but no change in REM sleep behaviour disorder. Conclusions: In advanced Parkinson's disease, chronic STN-DBS is associated with subjective improvement in sleep quality, probably through increased nocturnal mobility and reduction of sleep fragmentation.

This is an open, prospective, longitudinal study designed to compare two cohorts of patients with advanced Parkinson's disease during 1 year, one undergoing bilateral subthalamic stimulation (STN-DBS) and the other receiving the best medical treatment (BMT), with respect to the clinical effects observed and the medical expenses produced. Assessments were done by using clinical measures and a generic health related quality of life scale. A questionnaire was used to collect direct healthcare resources. As a measure of cost-effectiveness, we calculated life years gained adjusted by health-related quality of life (QALY) and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Clinical and demographic variables of both groups were comparable at baseline. Total UPDRS scores improved from 50.5 +/- 3.6 to 28.5 +/- 3.8 in STN-DBS patients and worsened from 44.3 +/- 3.3 to 54.2 +/- 4 in the control group. Pharmacological costs in the operated patients were 3,799 +/- 940 euro, while in the BMT group the costs were 13,208 +/- 4,966 euro. Other medical costs were 1,280 +/- 720 euro in the STN-DBS group and 4,017 +/- 2,962 euro in BMT patients. Nondirect medical costs were 4,079 +/- 1,289 in operated patients and 2,787 +/- 1,209 euro in the BMT group. Mean QALYs were 0.7611 +/- 0.03 in STN-DBS and 0.5401 +/- 0.06 in BMT patients. In STN-DBS patients, the ICER needed to obtain an improvement of one point in the total UPDRS score was of 239.8 euro and the ICER/QALY was of 34,389 euro. Cost-effectiveness parameters were mostly related to the degree of clinical improvement and the reduction of pharmacological costs after STN-DBS. An ICER of 34,389 euro/QALY is within appropriate limits to consider subthalamic stimulation as an efficient therapy.

Bilateral subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) and continuous subcutaneous infusion of apomorphine (APM-csi) can provide a comparable improvement on motor function in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD), but the mechanisms by which both therapies exert their effects are different. We analyzed the cognitive effects of APM-csi. We also compared neuropsychological effects induced by STN-DBS and APM-csi in advanced PD to ascertain the neuropsychological aspects relevant in determining the therapeutic procedure that is the most appropriate in a particular patient. We studied 9 patients treated with STN-DBS and 7 patients with APM-csi. Neuropsychological measures included Rey's Auditory-Verbal Learning, Stroop, Trail Making, phonetic verbal fluency, and Judgment of Line Orientation tests. In the APM-csi group, significant changes were not observed in the neuropsychological tests performance. By contrast, in the STN-DBS group, moderate worsening was found in phonetic verbal fluency and Stroop Naming scores that was partially reversible at long-term follow-up and did not have consequences on regular activities. Consequently, these findings could be interpreted as being not relevant in deciding the most suitable treatment in a given patient.

SUMMARYPurpose: To validate the use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucosepositron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (FDG-PET/MRI) coregistration for epileptogenic zone detection in children with MRI nonlesional refractory epilepsy and to assess its ability to guide a second interpretation of the MRI studies. Methods: Thirty-one children with refractory epilepsy whose MRI results were nonlesional were included prospectively. All patients underwent presurgical evaluation following the standard protocol of our epilepsy unit, which included FDG-PET and FDG-PET/MRI coregistration. Cerebral areas of decreased uptake in PET and PET/MRI fusion images were compared visually and then contrasted with presumed epileptogenic zone localization, which had been obtained from other clinical data. A second interpretation of MRI studies was carried out, focusing on the exact anatomic region in which hypometabolism was located in FDG-PET/MRI fusion images.Key Findings: Both FDG-PET and FDG-PET/MRI detected hypometabolism in 67.8% of patients, with good concordance on a subject basis and on the cerebral region involved (j statistic = 0.83 and 0.79, respectively). Hypometabolism detected by single PET, as well as by PET/MRI fusion images, was located in the same hemisphere, as indicated by electroclinical data in 58% of patients, and at the same place in 39% of cases. Of the patients who showed hypometabolism on PET/MRI, 43% also experienced changes in the guided second MRI interpretation, from nonlesional to subtlelesional. Significance: PET/MRI coregistration is an imaging variant that is at least as accurate as PET alone in detecting epileptogenic zone in pediatric nonlesional patients, and can guide a second look at MRI studies previously reported as nonlesional, turning a meaningful percentage into subtle-lesional.