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Deep Brain Stimulation at Variable Frequency to Improve Motor Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease
Author(s) -
Jia Fumin,
Wagle Shukla Aparna,
Hu Wei,
Almeida Leonardo,
Holanda Vanessa,
Zhang Jianguo,
Meng Fangang,
Okun Michael S.,
Li Luming
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
movement disorders clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.754
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 2330-1619
DOI - 10.1002/mdc3.12658
Subject(s) - deep brain stimulation , parkinson's disease , physical medicine and rehabilitation , motor symptoms , medicine , gait , movement disorders , dystonia , psychology , disease , physical therapy , psychiatry
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) with high frequency (HFS) is a well‐established therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD); however, low frequency DBS (LFS) may control axial symptoms including freezing of gait (FOG). We conducted a pilot safety and feasibility study to examine if a novel DBS paradigm of variable frequency stimulation (VFS) that combined HFS and LFS would capture a broader set of motor symptoms. Methods Four PD patients with bilateral STN DBS and FOG were enrolled. A UPDRS III and 10 m timed up and go (TUG) task were performed off medications‐off DBS and then one hour after HFS and one hour after VFS programming. Results The UPDRS III motor score improved by additional 14% during VFS setting when compared to HFS. VFS also increased gait speed (mean change 45%) and reduced the number of freezing episodes (mean change 58%). Conclusions VFS improves UPDRS and FOG in PD when compared to HFS.Copyright © 2018 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society