Clinical application of subthalamic nucleus stimulation for Parkinson disease

Objective To describe the technical approach and assess the efficacy and safety of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in Parkinson disease (PD). Methods 61 patients with medically intractable PD underwent deep brain stimulation of the STN. Unilateral implanting was performed in 30 cases, and bilateral implanting was performed in 31 cases. The target was identified by a combination of MRI neuroimaging and microelectrode recording. The scores of the motor portion of the Unified PD rating scale (UPDRS) were recorded to evaluate the stimulative effect. Results The mean follow-up duration was 11.3 months (ranged from 6 to 36 months). Improvement of the UPDRS motor scores was 45.2% when the stimulation was turned on and 20.7% when the stimulation was turned off without any undesirable side effects. Conclusion The stimulation of STN results significant control of the motor symptoms of the patients, lacks complication, can adjust the parameters, and has become an important therapeutics of PD.