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Freezing of gait after bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation for Parkinson's disease
Justin T Davis1, Kelly E Lyons, Rajesh Pahwa
1University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Neurology, 3599 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
Objective:
To determine the long-term effect of bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) on freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease patients.
Patients And Methods:
Sixty-seven patients were followed 12 months after bilateral STN DBS and 32 patients were followed 24 months post-surgery. Patients were evaluated with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) with medications on and off at baseline and again in both conditions with stimulation on at follow-up. Specific attention was paid to the freezing item of the ADL section.
Results:
Freezing scores in the medication off state improved significantly with stimulation at 1 and 2 years. In the medication on state there were no significant improvements in freezing.
Conclusion:
Off period freezing of gait is significantly improved with STN DBS up to 24 months; however, on period freezing is not affected by STN DBS.
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