Electrical stimulation of the “cribriform” subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson’s disease. Clinical case and review of the literature

Abstract

Perivascular spaces (VirchovRobin spaces, VRS) surround the walls of vessels along their route from the subarachnoid space through the brain parenchyma. Dilated VRS are often observed by MRI in healthy people. They can be a rare cause of neurological disorders. In the literature there are a small number of cases with VRS being a probable cause of the parkinsonian syndrome or affecting the course of Parkinsons disease (PD). We report our observation of the PD patient with complications of antiparkinsonian therapy who underwent bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN). The localization of VRS in the STN projection probably changed the clinical course of the disease but didn`t influence the outcomes of stimutation of the cribriform STN.

Keywords

• perivascular spaces
• virchow–robin spaces
• parkinson’s disease
• subthalamic nucleus
• chronic electrostimulation