[Cognitive functions in patients with primary torsion dystonia treated with pallidal deep brain stimulation]

Forty-three patients with primary dystonia underwent neuropsychological assessment according to the method of A.R. Luria. Twenty-three patients with generalized dystonia and 20 with local forms (cervical and craniocervical) were included in the study. All patients were evaluated before pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS GPi), 32 patients were examined 3-6 days after surgery, and 26 patients - during the first two years of the postoperative follow-up. The evaluation before surgery revealed cognitive impairment in 41 patients. The most common were mnemonic impairment, inertness and preservation in different tests, and spatial function decline. Thus, patients with local forms more frequently had troubles with performance memory tests, whereas spatial function disorders were more common in patients with generalized forms. The deterioration of cognitive functions was observed in 28 patients in the early postoperative period. Moreover, the group of patients with local forms had poorer results. The neuropsychological evaluation after 3-6 months of the postoperative follow-up showed the restoration of cognitive functions to the preoperative level. Neuropsychological syndrome observed in patients with dystonia was generally similar to that found in patients with lesions of the frontal lobe, the caudate nucleus, and the cerebellum.