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Published on: January 6, 2011
Preoperative factors of apathy in subthalamic stimulated Parkinson disease: a PET study
Gabriel H Robert1, Florence Le Jeune2, Clement Lozachmeur2
1From the Academic Department of Psychiatry (G.H.R., C.L., T.D., B.M., D.D.), Guillaume Régnier Hospital, Rennes; Nuclear Medicine Unit (F.L.J.), Oncology Department, Eugène Marquis Center, Rennes; Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department (S.D., J.-F.H., M.V.), Academic Department of Psychiatry (D.T.), and Neurophysiology Unit, Neurology Department (P.S.), Rennes University Hospital, France; and Neuroscience of Emotion and Affective Dynamics Laboratory (J.P.), Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Geneva, Switzerland. gabriel.hadrien.robert@gmail.com.
Objective:
The current literature provides discrepant results regarding preoperative sociodemographic and clinical factors, and no information about preoperative cerebral metabolic patterns associated with apathy after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) in Parkinson disease.
Methods:
To resolve this issue, we set out to identify preoperative metabolic patterns and sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with increased apathy after STN-DBS. Forty-four patients with Parkinson disease were enrolled in this study. They all underwent STN-DBS. Metabolic activity was assessed with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose PET 3 months before surgery. Apathy was assessed on the Apathy Evaluation Scale 3 months before and after STN-DBS. We controlled for preoperative age, levodopa therapy, and overall cognitive functions.
Results:
Increased apathy after STN-DBS was significantly associated with reduced preoperative metabolism within the right ventral striatum. None of the sociodemographic and clinical variables tested were associated with apathy after STN-DBS.
Conclusions:
Preoperative PET, but not sociodemographic or clinical factors, is associated with apathy after STN-DBS.
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