Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for Early Stage Parkinson's Disease (PD)
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2015-10-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (B-STN DBS) is one of the most effective
surgical treatments for PD patients suffering from levodopa-induced motor complications. The
relatively low incidence of permanent adverse effects and the potential for neuroprotection
and alteration of the natural course of PD suggest a highly favorable benefit-to-risk ratio
of this procedure. Since neuroprotection is best applied early in the disease course when
there are more surviving neurons, we believe that further investigation of this procedure is
warranted. The proposed pilot study will provide the necessary data to substantiate the
safety and tolerability of the procedure as well as provide data for the design of a
full-scale, multicenter trial to investigate the hypothesis that B-STN DBS is a safe and
effective treatment to slow the progression of PD.