• Warren A Marks, John Honeycutt, Fernando Acosta, MaryAnn Reed, Laurie Bailey, Angela Pomykal, and Mary Mercer.
• Department of Neurology, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, Texas 76104, USA. warren.marks@cookchildrens.org
• Mov. Disord. 2011 Aug 1; 26 (9): 1748-51.

BackgroundCerebral palsy is the most common cause of pediatric-onset dystonia. Deep brain stimulation is gaining acceptance for treating dystonias in children. There is minimal reported experience regarding the efficacy of deep brain stimulation in cerebral palsy.MethodsFourteen patients, including 8 younger than 16 years, received bilateral implants (13 patients) or a unilateral implant (1 patient) of the internal globus pallidus and were observed in a noncontrolled, nonblinded study for at least 6 months. Motor function was assessed using the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Movement and Disability scales and the Barry Albright Dystonia Scale.ResultsBy 6 months, significant improvement was observed in the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Movement scale (P=.004), the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Disability scale (P=.027), and the Barry Albright Dystonia Scale (P=.029) for the whole cohort (n=14) and in the patients treated before skeletal maturity (group 1; n=8): Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Movement scale, P=.012; Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Disability scale, P=.020; and Barry Albright Dystonia Scale, P=.027.ConclusionsDeep brain stimulation may offer an effective treatment option for cerebral palsy-related dystonia, especially in those treated before skeletal maturity.Copyright © 2011 Movement Disorder Society.

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