Sustained relief of dystonia following cessation of deep brain stimulation

We describe the unusual clinical course of a patient with cranial dystonia (i.e., Meige syndrome) and additional upper limb involvement, who developed sustained relief of motor symptoms following cessation of a prolonged course of bilateral pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS). Early response to therapy proved titratable and reversible; however, the patient gained independence from DBS in the fifth postoperative year and has since been more than a year without treatment or exacerbation of motor symptoms. Among the potential explanations for these neurological benefits lies the intriguing possibility that DBS therapy may have the capacity to induce plastic change that lessens or obviates the need for further treatment in susceptible patients.