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Front Neurol 2018 23;9:1011. Epub 2018 Nov 23.

Hospital Clínico, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.

We report a successful bilateral globus pallidus internus-deep brain stimulation (GPi-DBS) for a Parkinson disease (PD) patient with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH) and an unusually long anterior commissure-posterior commissure (AC-PC) line. A 54-year-old man presented with a history of 3 months of severe shuffling gait, rigidity, slow movements of the left side limbs, and difficulty managing finances. A brain MRI revealed marked ventriculomegaly (Evans index = 0. Read More

Gac Med Mex 2018 ;154(6):719-726

Laboratorio Clínico de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas. Secretaría de Salud, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Ciudad de México, México.

The original description of what currently is known as Parkinson's disease was published 200 years ago. During both these centuries, knowledge on symptomatology, pathophysiology, genetics and pharmaceutical and surgical treatment has significantly increased; however, this nosological entity continues to be of imprecise origin and progressive evolution. In the present review, the historical events that contributed to describe and improve the understanding of this disease are summarized. Read More

Asian J Neurosurg 2018 Oct-Dec;13(4):1252-1253

Department of Neurosurgery, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milan, Italy.

Skin erosion and infection are common but serious problems in deep brain stimulation (DBS). They can lead to the removal of the entire DBS device and consequently stop the entire treatment. Of critical importance, therefore, is to find surgical solutions that allow to leave the complex DBS device in place when medical treatment fails in repeated skin complications, to allow continuing treatment in otherwise pharmacological refractory patients. Read More

Mov Disord 2018 Nov 19. Epub 2018 Nov 19.

Tri-State Neurosurgery, Willis Knighton Health System, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.

Introduction: Medically intractable tremors are a common, difficult clinical situation. Deep brain stimulation decreases Parkinson's disease resting tremor and essential tremor, but not all patients are candidates from a diagnostic, medical, or social standpoint, prompting the need for alternative surgical strategies.

Methods: We describe 13 patients with medically intractable tremor treated with laser interstitial thermal thalamotomy performed under general anesthesia using live MRI-guidance and the Clearpoint stereotactic system. Read More

Front Neurol 2018 31;9:906. Epub 2018 Oct 31.

Department of Neurology, Faculty of Health Science, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) has been an established method in improvement of motor disabilities in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. It has been also claimed to have an impact on balance and gait disorders in PD patients, but the previous results are conflicting. The aim of this prospective controlled study was to evaluate the impact of STN-DBS on balance disorders in PD patients in comparison with Best-Medical-Therapy (BMT) and Long-term-Post-Operative (POP) group. Read More

Front Neurol 2018 25;9:893. Epub 2018 Oct 25.

Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli, " Naples, Italy.

Impulse control behaviors (ICB) are recognized as non-motor complications of dopaminergic medications in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Compelling evidence suggests that ICB are not merely due to the PD-related pathology itself. Several risk factors have been identified, either demographic, clinical, genetic or neuropsychological. Read More

Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2018 ;118(6. Vyp. 2):99-104

Trapeznikov Institute of Control Sciences of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

The hardware-software system of differential diagnosis and evaluation of the efficacy of treatment of a number of extrapyramidal diseases (Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, idiopathic cervical dystonia) is based on the methodology of special processing of the electrical activity of muscles (EMG). The system defines the diagnosis for each investigated muscle, and determine various forms of extrapyramidal diseases including early preclinical ones. The system allows viewing the dynamics of changes in the patient's state, both in numerical characteristics and in the graphic interpretation, and evaluates the efficacy of various forms of treatment (medicament, surgical, etc. Read More

Neurosci Lett 2018 Oct 11;690:83-88. Epub 2018 Oct 11.

Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. Electronic address:

L-dopa-induced dyskinesias (LID) is a common motor side effect of levodopa therapy of Parkinson's disease (PD). The identified predictors may only partially account for the risk of developing LID and genetic factors may contribute to this variability. The present study is aimed to investigate whether polymorphisms in the dopamine transporter gene (DAT) are associated with the risk of developing LID. Read More

Int Rev Neurobiol 2018 19;141:405-438. Epub 2018 Sep 19.

Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Napoli, Italy; MRI Research Center SUN-FISM, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Napoli, Italy. Electronic address:

Among modern neuroimaging modalities, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a widely available, non-invasive, and cost-effective method to detect structural and functional abnormalities related to neurodegenerative disorders. In the last decades, MRI have been widely implemented to support PD diagnosis as well as to provide further insights into motor and non-motor symptoms pathophysiology, complications and treatment-related effects. Different aspects of the brain morphology and function may be derived from a single scan, by applying different analytic approaches. Read More

Int J Spine Surg 2018 Jan 30;12(1):15-21. Epub 2018 Mar 30.

Division of Spine Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) commonly develop severe spinal deformity, including scoliosis, antecollis, camptocormia, and Pisa syndrome. The etiology of PD-associated spinal deformity is not completely understood and in most cases is likely due to multiple interrelated factors, including central dystonia and focal myopathy. Once spinal deformity has occurred, surgery is often the only modality that can correct the condition, although control of the movement disorder through medication and deep brain stimulation may slow progression. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Dec 18;120:e1217-e1224. Epub 2018 Sep 18.

Department of Neurosurgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

Objective: Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is advocated in patients with advanced Parkinson disease. Intraoperative microelectrode recordings (MER) and stimulation or imaging are applied to confirm electrode targeting. The study objective was to evaluate which intraoperative electrophysiologic marker, MER, stimulation, or local field potentials (LFP) was the most predictive of the clinical efficacy. Read More

Brain Imaging Behav 2018 Sep 20. Epub 2018 Sep 20.

Department of Psychology, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Viale Ellittico, 31, 81100, Caserta, Italy.

Apathy is commonly reported in Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Fronto-Temporal Dementia (FTD) and Parkinson's Disease (PD). In our meta-analysis we analysed a total of 41 studies to identify brain patterns associated with apathy. For these purposes we used activation likelihood estimation meta-analyses. Read More

World Neurosurg 2019 Jan 17;121:e129-e135. Epub 2018 Sep 17.

Research Center for Neuromodulation and Pain, Kowsar Hospital, Shiraz, Iran.

Objective: To report the establishment of a new center for deep brain stimulation (DBS) as a surgical treatment for Parkinson disease and the surgical outcomes, from 2014 to 2017 in Shiraz, Southern Iran.

Methods: A new treatment program was established in Shiraz through a multidisciplinary team in 2014. Thirty-four patients underwent implantation of subthalamic nucleus (STN) electrodes during the last 3 years. Read More

Mov Disord 2018 Aug;33(8):1228-1235

Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Among movement disorders and medicine in general, PD is one of the conditions for which there is a greater knowledge of the placebo and nocebo responses. In other movement disorders, the knowledge of placebo and nocebo responses is less. An advance in this field is expected to contribute to a better understanding of the nature of a therapeutic benefit in clinical research and clinical practice, and mechanisms of placebo and nocebo. Read More

Neurodegener Dis Manag 2018 10 18;8(5):337-348. Epub 2018 Sep 18.

Department of Otolaryngology, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA.

The prevalence of speech disorders among individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) has been reported to be as high as 89%. Speech impairment in PD results from a combination of motor and nonmotor deficits. The production of speech depends upon the coordination of various motor activities: respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance and prosody. Read More

Georgian Med News 2018 Jul-Aug(280-281):11-16

SI "Institute of Neurosurgery named after acad. A. P. Romodanov of the NAMS of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine.

Aim - to evaluate the efficacy of stereotactic pallidotomy and bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of subthalamic nuclei (STN) in patients with Parkinson disease with motor fluctuations and levodopa-induced dyskinesias. 36 patients (age range 31-73 years (mean age 56.2±3. Read More

Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2018 Aug 28. Epub 2018 Aug 28.

Department of Neurology, Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA. Electronic address:

Objective: To compare subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) with globus pallidus interna (GPi) DBS for tremor suppression in Parkinson disease (PD).

Background: DBS is an effective surgical therapy that has been shown to provide significant benefit for motor symptoms in PD. Currently, two main structures targeted to treat motor complications in PD are the STN and GPi. Read More

Rinsho Shinkeigaku 2018 Sep 31;58(9):570-573. Epub 2018 Aug 31.

Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University.

A 68-year-old man, who had received Billroth II gastrojejunostomy because of duodenal ulcer at the age of 20, was diagnosed to have Parkinson's disease at age 57 years. The drug therapy has been effective in the first 10 years, however, recently he was suffering from troublesome dyskinesia and wearing-off in spite of diligent drug adjustments. Although the indication of levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) treatment was good, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy was difficult because of abdominal adhesion. Read More

J Clin Neurosci 2018 Nov 28;57:26-32. Epub 2018 Aug 28.

Neuroscience Institute, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA.

Clinical decision making is susceptible to biases and can be improved with the application of predictive models and decision support systems (DSS). The purpose of this study was to develop a predictive risk stratification model and DSS that could accurately predict whether a patient was likely to be of high- or low-acuity discharge disposition (DD) status subsequent to DBS surgery. Data were collected for 135 DBS patients by reviewing medical records. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2018 Aug;97(35):e12153

Department of Neurosurgery.

Objective: This meta-analysis assessed the long-term efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus interna (GPi) for Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Clinical Trials databases were searched. Outcomes were unified Parkinson disease rating scale section (UPDRS) III off-medication score, Parkinson's disease questionnaire: 39 activities of daily living (PDQ-39 ADL) score, and levodopa-equivalent dosage after DBS. Read More

Rev Med Chil 2018 May;146(5):562-569

Clínica Alemana de Santiago, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile.

Background: Deep brain stimulation is an essential therapeutic tool in Parkinson's disease.

Aim: To assess the results of a series of patients with Parkinson's disease treated with micro-electrode guided subthalamic nucleus stimulation.

Material And Methods: Twenty patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were studied (10 males). Read More

AORN J 2018 Aug;108(2):148-153

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a life-changing surgical treatment. More than 150,000 patients worldwide have been treated with DBS, primarily for Parkinson disease and medically refractory tremor and dystonia. However, the use of DBS has recently expanded beyond traditional movement disorders to include the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder, epilepsy, and other neurological and psychological diseases. Read More

Front Neurol 2018 31;9:532. Epub 2018 Jul 31.

Research Team in Neurology and Neurogenetics, Department of Neurology B and Neurogenetics, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hôpital des Spécialités ONO, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is known as a therapy of choice of advanced Parkinson's disease. The present study aimed to assess the beneficial and side effects of STN DBS in Moroccan Parkinsonian patients. Thirty five patients underwent bilateral STN DBS from 2008 to 2016 in the Rabat University Hospital. Read More

Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr 2018 Sep 14;86(S 01):S5-S9. Epub 2018 Aug 14.

Parkinson-Klinik Ortenau, Wolfach.

Development of motor fluctuations and dyskinesia characterizes the transition from the early to the advanced Parkinson stage. Current oral therapeutic strategies aim at increasing the number of levodopa administrations and extending its benefit by the association of enzyme blockers (MAO- and COMT-inhibitors) and dopamine agonists. However, as disease progresses, mobility becomes progressively dependent on levodopa absorption and plasma bioavailability, resulting in disabling motor complications. Read More

Neural Regen Res 2018 Aug;13(8):1342-1345

Division of Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

Currently, the most common surgical treatment for Parkinson's disease is deep brain stimulation (DBS). This treatment strategy is typically reserved for bradykinesia, rigidity and tremor in patients who no longer respond to medication in a predictable manner or who suffer medication-induced dyskinesias. In addition to DBS, ablative procedures like radiofrequency, radiosurgery and focused ultrasound are also utilized for select tremor symptoms. Read More

J Neurosci Res 2018 Oct 11;96(10):1641-1662. Epub 2018 Aug 11.

Environmental Health Sciences Division, School of Public Health, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.

Age-related changes in the brain reflect a dynamic interaction of genetic, epigenetic, phenotypic, and environmental factors that can be temporally restricted or more longitudinally present throughout the lifespan. Fundamental to these mechanisms is the capacity for physiological adaptation through modulation of diverse molecular and biochemical signaling occurring from the intracellular to the network-systemic level throughout the brain. A number of agents that affect the onset and progression of Parkinson's disease (PD)-like effects in experimental models exhibit temporal features, and mechanisms of hormetic dose responses. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Nov 8;119:e801-e808. Epub 2018 Aug 8.

Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany.

Objective: Implantation of deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes requires stereotactic imaging. Stereotactic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for DBS surgery has become more popular and intraoperative MRI scanners have become more available. We report on our cohort of movement disorder patients who underwent intraoperative stereotactic MRI-only DBS electrode implantation. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Nov 31;119:63-65. Epub 2018 Jul 31.

Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Functional Neurosciences, Amiens University Medical Center, Amiens, France.

Background: It is not clear whether cognitive adverse events can occur after subthalamic nuclei deep brain stimulation in Parkinson disease, and the putative mechanisms are poorly understood.

Case Description: We report on a rare case of a 68-year-old woman with Parkinson disease but no previous cognitive impairment. The day after deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nuclei, the woman presented with new-onset dementia and acute, severe, persistent, global cognitive decline, prompting a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease. Read More

Science 2018 Aug;361(6401):462

Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

Neurosci Bull 2018 Dec 24;34(6):921-938. Epub 2018 Jul 24.

Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China.

Neurostimulation remarkably alleviates the symptoms in a variety of brain disorders by modulating the brain-wide network. However, how brain-wide effects on the direct and indirect pathways evoked by focal neurostimulation elicit therapeutic effects in an individual patient is unknown. Understanding this remains crucial for advancing neural circuit-based guidance to optimize candidate patient screening, pre-surgical target selection, and post-surgical parameter tuning. Read More

BioDrugs 2018 Aug;32(4):357-366

John van Geest Centre for Brain Repair, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, E.D. Adrian Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0PY, UK.

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. It is characterised by a typical movement disorder that occurs in part because of the selective degeneration of the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta. Current treatment for the motor disorder of Parkinson's disease consists of dopaminergic medications, but these come with significant adverse effects, themselves an important part of the clinical course of Parkinson's disease, particularly in advanced stages. Read More

J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2018 Jul 13. Epub 2018 Jul 13.

Colentina Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania.

Development of motor fluctuations and dyskinesia characterizes the transition from early to advanced Parkinson disease stage. Current therapeutic strategies to manage motor complications aim at increasing the number of levodopa administrations and extending its benefit by the association of enzyme blockers and dopamine agonists. However, as disease progresses, mobility becomes progressively dependent on levodopa absorption and its plasma bioavailability, resulting in loss of independence, worse quality of life and increased caregiver burden. Read More

Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2018 Jun;76(6):411-420

University of Toronto, Toronto Western Hospital, Movement Disorders Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.

Parkinson's disease can be treated surgically in patients who present with motor complications such as fluctuations and dyskinesias, or medically-refractory disabling tremor. In this review, a group of specialists formulated suggestions for a preoperative evaluation protocol after reviewing the literature published up to October 2017. In this protocol, eligibility and ineligibility criteria for surgical treatment were suggested, as well as procedures that should be carried out before the multidisciplinary therapeutic decisions. Read More

Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2018 06;76(6):359-360

Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Neurologia, Centro de Distúrbios do Movimento, São Paulo SP, Brasil.

Neurologist 2018 Jul;23(4):141-147

Departments of Physiology, Biological and Natural Sciences Institute.

Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting the basal nuclei, causing motor and cognitive disorders. Bearing in mind that standard treatments are ineffective in delaying the disease progression, alternative treatments capable of eliminating symptoms and reversing the clinical condition have been sought. Possible alternative treatments include cell therapy, especially with the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Sep 23;117:e692-e697. Epub 2018 Jun 23.

Department of Neurosurgery, Amiens Picardie University Hospital, Amiens, France.

Background: The volume of activated tissue (VTA) model attempts to represent in 3 dimensions the diffusion of the current provided by the deep brain stimulation lead on brain structures. The objective of the present study was to assess the correlations among the VTA, activation of the corticospinal tract, and the intraoperative side effect (ISE) threshold.

Methods: This double-blind, single-center study was performed between September 2016 and July 2017. Read More

J Neurol 2018 Sep 26;265(9):1989-1997. Epub 2018 Jun 26.

Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi Montalcini", University of Turin, Via Cherasco 15, 10124, Turin, Italy.

Background: We sought to characterize the clinical, neuropsychological, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging features of Parkinson's disease (PD) after over 35 years since the onset of motor symptoms.

Methods: Five consecutively consenting PD patients treated with subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) were recruited in a cross-sectional study of motor (Unified PD Rating Scale section-III), non-motor (Non-Motor Symptoms Scale), autonomic (Scale for Outcome in PD-Autonomic), and neuropsychological features associated with the very advanced phase of PD. In addition, patients underwent neurophysiological (autonomic tests and nerve conduction studies) and neuroimaging (brain MRI, I-FP-CIT SPECT, and I-MIBG myocardial scintigraphy) studies, as well as a genetic analysis of 34 genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with PD. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Sep 7;117:280-283. Epub 2018 Jun 7.

Department of Neurosurgery, Tsinghua University Yuquan Hospital, Shijingshan District, Beijing, China. Electronic address:

Background: Skin complications are a frequent type of complication of deep brain stimulation (DBS) neurosurgical procedure and are always observed in the postauricular area, scalp area, and implantable pulse generator pocket. Modifications to the surgical techniques for DBS have been proposed as therapeutic options. To prevent skin complications, we modified the surgical incisions. Read More

Top Magn Reson Imaging 2018 Jun;27(3):171-177

Department of Neurosurgery.

Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) is increasingly implemented for image-guided procedures in functional neurosurgery. iMRI facilitates accurate electrode implantation for deep brain stimulation (DBS) and is currently an alternative method for DBS electrode targeting. The application of iMRI also allows for greater accuracy and precision in laser-induced thermal therapy (LITT). Read More

PLoS Comput Biol 2018 05 29;14(5):e1006217. Epub 2018 May 29.

School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is modeled to explore the mechanisms of this effective, but poorly understood, treatment for motor symptoms of drug-refractory Parkinson's disease and dystonia. First, a neural field model of the corticothalamic-basal ganglia (CTBG) system is developed that reproduces key clinical features of Parkinson's disease, including its characteristic 4-8 Hz and 13-30 Hz electrophysiological signatures. Deep brain stimulation of the STN is then modeled and shown to suppress the pathological 13-30 Hz (beta) activity for physiologically realistic and optimized stimulus parameters. Read More

Disabil Rehabil 2018 May 18:1-10. Epub 2018 May 18.

a Faculty of Health Sciences , University Hospital Southampton, University of Southampton , Southampton , UK.

Background: Parkinson's disease demonstrates a spectrum of motor and non-motor symptoms. Falling is common and disabling. Current medical management shows minimal impact to reduce falls or fall-related risk factors, such as deficits in gait, strength, and postural instability. Read More

Brain Sci 2018 May 11;8(5). Epub 2018 May 11.

Department of Human Neurosciences (Former Department of Neurology and Psychiatry), "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has proved useful for several movement disorders (Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, dystonia), in which first and/or second line pharmacological treatments were inefficacious. Initial evidence of DBS efficacy exists for refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder, treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, and impulse control disorders. Ethical concerns have been raised about the use of an invasive surgical approach involving the central nervous system in patients with possible impairment in cognitive functioning and decision-making capacity. Read More

Cureus 2018 Feb 26;10(2):e2232. Epub 2018 Feb 26.

Psychiatry, Amr Shahin Mental Hospital.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment in which stimulation electrodes are permanently implanted in basal ganglia to treat motor fluctuations and symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus internus (GPi) are the commonly used targets for DBS in PD. Many studies have compared motor and non-motor outcomes of DBS in both targets. Read More

Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo) 2018 May 1;58(5):199-205. Epub 2018 May 1.

Department of Neurological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The success of deep brain stimulation (DBS) depends heavily on surgical accuracy, and brain shift is recognized as a significant factor influencing accuracy. We investigated the factors associated with surgical accuracy and showed the effectiveness of a dural sealant system for preventing brain shift in 32 consecutive cases receiving DBS. Thirty-two patients receiving DBS between March 2014 and May 2015 were included in this study. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Jul 28;115:e650-e658. Epub 2018 Apr 28.

Philippine Movement Disorder Surgery Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, San Juan City, Philippines; Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine - Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines; Movement Disorder Service and Section of Neurology, Institute for Neurosciences, St. Luke's Medical Center, Quezon City and Global City, Philippines. Electronic address:

Objective: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment modality for Parkinson disease (PD). The first DBS for PD in the Philippines was performed at the Philippine Movement Disorder Surgery Center in 2006. There are no Philippine data on DBS for PD. Read More

Neuromodulation 2018 Aug 26;21(6):548-552. Epub 2018 Apr 26.

Department of Health and Welfare Service, National Institution of Public Health, Wako, Saitama, Japan.

Objectives: A new rechargeable dual-channel deep brain stimulation (DBS) system has been introduced for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. However, the clinical value of the device, which has a high cost, remains unclear.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a cost-minimization analysis using a national database of health insurance claims in Japan. Read More

Chin Med J (Engl) 2018 May;131(9):1067-1074

Department of Cardiac Surgery, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, National Center for Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China.

Background: The incidence of Ebstein's anomaly is extremely low, and except for the Mayo Clinic, no cardiac center has reported on a sufficient number of patients. The aim of our study was to report the outcomes of Ebstein's anomaly patients treated with tricuspid valvuloplasty (TVP) or tricuspid valve replacement (TVR).

Methods: TVP or TVR was performed in 245 patients from July 2006 to April 2016. Read More

Front Neurol 2018 4;9:211. Epub 2018 Apr 4.

Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Background: In persons with Parkinson's disease (PD), gait dysfunctions are often associated with abnormal neuromuscular function. Physical therapy combined with auditory stimulation has been recently shown to improve motor function and gait kinematic patterns; however, the underlying neuromuscular control patterns leading to this improvement have never been identified.

Objectives: (1) Assess the relationships between motor dysfunction and lower limb muscle activity during gait in persons with PD; (2) Quantify the effects of physical therapy with rhythmic auditory stimulation (PT-RAS) on lower limb muscle activity during gait in persons with PD. Read More

Narrat Inq Bioeth 2018 ;8(1):67-77

Although deep brain stimulation (DBS) may result in dramatic motor improvement in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), it has been correlated with a number of postoperative psychiatric side effects. We report a case of a person with PD experiencing depression and hypomania following DBS surgery. We provide a detailed report of the patient's personal experiences dealing with and managing these psychiatric side effects for three years. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Jul 11;115:e206-e217. Epub 2018 Apr 11.

Department of Neurosurgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan.

Objective: The efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) on dexterity remains controversial despite its recognition as an effective strategy for Parkinson disease. The present study investigated the efficacy of STN-DBS for ameliorating bradykinesia and dexterity compared with dopaminergic medications.

Methods: Part III of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale was used for the evaluation of bradykinesia, whereas the Purdue Pegboard Test and the Box and Block test were selected for dexterity. Read More