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Efficacy of short pulse and conventional deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Background

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a common treatment for Parkinson’s disease. However, the clinical efficacy of short pulse width DBS (spDBS) compared with conventional DBS (cDBS) is still unknown.

Objective

This meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of spDBS versus cDBS in patients with PD.

Methods

Four databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Embase) were independently searched until October 2021 by two reviewers. We utilized the following scales and items: therapeutic windows (TW), efficacy threshold, side effect threshold, Movement Disorder Society–Sponsored Revision Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) part III off-medication score, Speech Intelligence Test (SIT), and Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOG-Q).

Results

The analysis included seven studies with a total of 87 patients. The results indicated that spDBS significantly widened the therapeutic windows (0.99, 95% CI = 0.61 to 1.38) while increasing the threshold amplitudes of side effects (2.25, 95% CI = 1.69 to 2.81) and threshold amplitudes of effects (1.60, 95% CI = 0.84 to 2.36). There was no statistically significant difference in UPDRS part III, SIT, and FOG-Q scores between spDBS and cDBS groups, suggesting that treatment with both cDBS and spDBS may result in similar effects of improved dysarthria and gait disorders.

Conclusions

Compared with cDBS, spDBS is effective in expanding TW. Both types of deep brain stimulation resulted in improved gait disorders and speech intelligibility.

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Data availability

The corresponding authors have absolute access to all the research data and hold the copyright for the work reported in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 35001, China

    Xinyang Zou, Xilin Wu, Qinyong Ye & Guoen Cai

  2. Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 35001, China

    Xinyang Zou, Yisen Shi & Fabin Lin

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 35001, China

    Fabin Lin

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Zou, X., Shi, Y., Wu, X. et al. Efficacy of short pulse and conventional deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Neurol Sci 44, 815–825 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-022-06484-z

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