“Super” high-frequency subthalamic stimulation for managing refractory dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate and compare the effect of “super” high-frequency (SHF; >130 Hz) stimulation and conventional high-frequency (CHF; 100–130 Hz) stimulation on patients with dyskinesia. Methods: The patients were evaluated using the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) with SHF and CHF after levodopa infusion. The secondary outcomes included the Burke–Fahn–Marsden dystonia rating scale and the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale part III scores. Result: Six patients were enrolled in this study. The AIMS scores were not significantly different between SHF and CHF (p=0.89, paired t-test). Three out of six patients (50%) had better AIMS scores when SHF was applied, the scores of two patients remained unchanged, and one patient had a score worse than that with CHF. No short-term adverse effects were observed. Conclusion: The results of our pilot study show that SHF is safe and tolerable. We believe that in appropriate cases SHF can be used for managing dyskinesia after conventional methods yield unfavorable results.

Keywords

• deep brain stimulation
• dyskinesia
• high-frequency stimulation
• movement disorders
• parkinson’s disease