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Published on: January 6, 2011
Pathological crying induced by deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's disease
Marc E Wolf1, Mahmoud Abdallat2, Christian Blahak1
1Department of Neurology, Universitaetsmedizin Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
Abstract:
We report on a patient with deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) for Parkinson's disease (PD) who developed pathologic crying (PC) immediately postoperatively. A spread of DBS current to adjacent cortico-ponto-cerebellar pathways might be responsible. In contrast to the few cases published previously, there was no pre-existing additional lesion that would have favoured occurrence of PC. Treating physicians should be aware of DBS-induced PC.
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