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Subthalamic stimulation improves the cerebral hemodynamic response to the cold pressure test in patients with Parkinson's disease
Author(s) -
Rätsep Tõnu,
Asser Toomas
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of clinical ultrasound
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.272
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1097-0096
pISSN - 0091-2751
DOI - 10.1002/jcu.21984
Subject(s) - medicine , subthalamic nucleus , parkinson's disease , stimulation , transcranial doppler , deep brain stimulation , cardiology , hemodynamics , cerebral blood flow , anesthesia , central nervous system disease , blood pressure , disease
Purpose. Disturbances of the autonomic nervous system are common in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) but the effect of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus on cerebrovascular reactivity is not entirely known. Methods. Seven patients in an advanced stage of the disease and seven healthy age‐matched controls participated in the study, which took place after one night of drug withdrawal. Cerebral blood flow velocity was continuously monitored on both sides with transcranial Doppler ultrasound, and cerebrovascular reactivity (CR) was evaluated with the cold pressure test. The measurements were repeated and compared during the stimulation‐on and ‐off phases. Results. The PD patients had significantly higher CR values in the stimulation‐on than ‐off conditions (15.1% ± 6.9 versus 9.4% ± 6.2; p = 0.03). CR values were higher in controls than in patients in the stimulation‐off condition (20.4% ± 12.5 versus 9.4% ± 6.2; p = 0.007) without a significant difference with the stimulation‐on phase. Conclusions. CR, evaluated by the response to the cold pressure test, is impaired in patients with advanced PD and improved by subthalamic nucleus. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound, 2012.