SIR Medicine Investigation Abstract
DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE
Presenter:
Rashi Bamzai, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 West Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL, 60506; yaashee@imsa.edu
Mentor:
Dr. Arif Dalvi, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2030, Chicago, IL, 60637; 773-702-4392; adalvi@neurology.bsd.uchicago.edu
Abstract:
Various medications including L-dopa and dopamine agonists are frequently used as treatments for Parkinson's disease (PD). However, these treatments are associated with long-term motor complications that do not respond to medical therapy. Surgical therapy is helpful for patients with advanced PD. Electrical stimulation through electrodes implanted into the brain, has received a fair amount of acceptance. The proposed effect of deep brain stimulation (DBS) is to inhibit activity in the targeted region. As DBS is a recent innovation, the overall effectiveness of the procedure is still unclear. The stimulation parameters used in the DBS techniques are measured by amplitude, pulse width, rate, and electrode settings. This study evaluates the effect of DBS surgery on quality of life in 16 patients with PD. The average age of these patients is 67 years (44-78). None of the patients were diagnosed with young onset disease; the average age at surgery was 66 years (43-77). The average duration of the disease was 11 years (6-27). The male to female ratio was 10:6. Quality of life was measured through the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). On this scale, the Activities of Daily Living average score improved from 14 to 10.5 in the "on" stage, and from 24.9 to 16.3 in the "off" stage. This was a significant improvement from the statistical and clinical points of view.