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Updated: May 28, 2026

Controlling Parkinson's Disease With Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation
Published on: July 16, 2014
Heart rate variability in Parkinson's disease unaffected by deep brain stimulation
E Trachani1, C Constantoyannis, G C Sakellaropoulos
1Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.
Objectives:
Our aim was to investigate the impact of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on the cardiovagal control of patients with advanced Parkinson's disease.
Materials And Methods:
Twenty-four patients (mean age: 62.1 ± 9.4 years) were examined 3 days before and 6 months after DBS by a questionnaire, blood pressure monitoring and a battery of neurophysiological tests: time domain analysis of RR interval variation during normal and deep breathing (DB), Valsalva manoeuvre, and tilt test. By off-line, performed frequency domain analysis of heart rate variation, total power (TP), low frequency band (LF) band, high-frequency (HF) band, and their normalized units were estimated. The neurophysiological measurements were compared to those of 24 healthy controls.
Results:
The values of time domain variables were pre- and postoperatively lower in patients than in controls. A significant reduction was found in LF band after the implantation. Orthostatic hypotension was present in 45.8% of the patients preoperatively and 12.5% postoperatively. There was no correlation between DBS-related changes of motor function and corresponding neurophysiological measurements, but patients with more than 60% motor improvement had higher time domain parameters' values than the others.
Conclusions:
STN-DBS offered no considerable impact on autonomic cardiovascular control.
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