Deep brain stimulation of the pedunculopontine tegmentum and subthalamic nucleus: Effects on gait in Parkinson's disease

Peppe, A.; Pierantozzi, M.; Chiavalon, C.; Marchetti, F.; Caltagirone, C.; Musicco, M.; Stanzione, P.; Stefani, A.

doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2010.07.012

« Previous Next »Gait & Posture
Volume 32, Issue 4 , Pages 512-518, October 2010

Deep brain stimulation of the pedunculopontine tegmentum and subthalamic nucleus: Effects on gait in Parkinson's disease

A. Peppe
- I.R.C.C.S, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 309, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Corresponding author. Fax: +39 06515011.
M. Pierantozzi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy
C. Chiavalon
- I.R.C.C.S, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 309, 00179 Rome, Italy
F. Marchetti
- I.R.C.C.S, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 309, 00179 Rome, Italy
C. Caltagirone
- I.R.C.C.S, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 309, 00179 Rome, Italy
M. Musicco
- I.R.C.C.S, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 309, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Institute of Biomedical Technology, National Research Council, Segrate, Milan, Italy
P. Stanzione
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy
A. Stefani
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy

Received 11 August 2009; received in revised form 14 July 2010; accepted 16 July 2010. published online 20 August 2010.

Abstract

Objective

This study examines the effects of subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) and pedunculopontine tegmentum (PPTg) DBS in advanced Parkinson's disease using gait analysis.

Methods

Five people underwent bilateral DBS in both the STN and PPTg. Gait analysis was performed one year after neurosurgery using an optoelectronic system. The effects of DBS (STN, PPTg and STN+PPTg) were studied in two clinical conditions: without (Off) and during (On) antiparkinsonian therapy.