Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease: The experience of the Policlinico-San Paolo group in Milan

Thirty patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were treated with deep brain stimulation electrode in the subthalamic nucleus. After surgery, the patients' best mean Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS III) scores (medictionOFF-stimulatorON versus preoperative medicationOFF) were 77±14% at 3 months (n=20 patients) and 72±14% at 12 months follow-up (n=16). The mean reduction in therapy (expressed in levodopa dose equivalents in mg) was 68±25% at 12 months. Postoperative complications were rare, mostly mild, and reversible. Therapeutic success depends on a multidisciplinary team approach, meticulous patient selection, including patients' cognitive, psychic, and behavioral status, and patient and family lifestyles.