Parkinson’s disease: GPi DBS improves motor symptoms but impairs speech

October 20, 2016

Takeaway

• Patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) and contraindications to subthalamic surgery saw improvement in motor symptoms, especially dyskinesias, but with a decline in speech, in response to bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) to the globus pallidus pars interna (GPi).

Why this matters

• The optimal DBS target is still debated, with some studies showing the subthalamic nucleus (STN) a better target than the GPi.
• STN DBS can carry side-effects, including cognitive decline and worsening dopa-resistant axial motor symptoms.

Key results

• In patients stimulated in off-medication condition, motor score improvement on the United Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)-III was 19.8% at month 12 (P=.04), and remained stable at year 3, with an improvement above baseline of 20.6% (P=.04).
• The speech subscore worsened significantly at year ...

https://www.univadis.com/viewarticle/parkinson-s-disease-gpi-dbs-improves-motor-symptoms-but-impairs-speech-452310