Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society
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Pain is a frequent, but poorly studied symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD). DoPaMiP survey aimed to assess the prevalence of chronic pain in PD, to describe PD patients with chronic pain, and to record analgesic consumption. About 450 parkinsonian patients underwent structured standardized clinical examination and completed self-reported questionnaires in a cross sectional survey. ⋯ Parkinsonian patients with "PD-pain" were younger at PD onset, had more motor complications, more severe depressive symptoms than those without pain or with "non-PD pain." "PD-pain" was more intense (P = 0.03), but was less frequently reported to doctors (P = 0.02), and was associated with less frequent analgesic consumption than "non-PD-pain." Pain was twice more frequent in PD patients than in patients without PD after adjustment for osteo-articular comorbidities (OR = 1.9; 95% CI 1.2-3.2). Chronic pain is frequent but underreported in PD. Awareness of this problem should be increased and the assessment of analgesic strategies improved.
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Comparative Study
Distribution of motor impairment influences quality of life in Parkinson's disease.
We evaluated the relationship between upper extremity (UE) and lower extremity (LE) motor impairments in Parkinson's disease (PD) to overall disability and quality of life (QoL) measures. A total of 639 patients who were diagnosed with idiopathic PD were administered the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), QoL, activities of daily living (ADL), and behavioral scales. ⋯ Patients with greater UE and LE motor impairments had lower QoL scores. However, LE impairments had a greater influence than UE impairments across all QoL measures.
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A body of literature now exists, which demonstrates that idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) has a major negative impact on quality of life (QoL), and that depression and cognitive impairment are among the main predictors of poor QoL in this disorder. Relatively little work has been done to assess the differential contribution of the specific symptoms of PD to QoL, which was the aim of this study. One hundred thirty patients with PD completed a booklet of questionnaires, which included the PDQ39 as a disease-specific measure of QoL, a symptom checklist, a mobility checklist, as well as patient ratings of disease stage and disability. ⋯ Among the mobility problems associated with PD, start hesitation, shuffling gait, freezing, festination, propulsion, and difficulty in turning had a significant effect on QoL scores. In addition to depression and anxiety, the major predictors of QoL were shuffling, difficulty turning, falls, difficulty in dressing, fatigue, confusion, autonomic disturbance particularly urinary incontinence, unpredictable on/off fluctuations, and sensory symptoms such as pain. The implications of these results for the medical management of PD are discussed.
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Case Reports
Therapy-refractory Tourette syndrome: beneficial outcome with globus pallidus internus deep brain stimulation.
We report on a female patient with Tourette syndrome and a 12-month follow-up after chronic deep brain stimulation in the globus pallidus internus which resulted in excellent remission of motor and vocal tics.
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Stereotactic neurosurgeons hesitate to employ sedation in cases requiring microelectrode recording (MER). We report our experience with dexmedetomidine during MER of subthalamic nucleus (STN). Eleven Parkinsonian patients received dexmedetomidine during deep brain stimulation surgery. ⋯ Arousal affects STN neurons. Dexmedetomidine "cooperative sedation," from which the patient is easily aroused, provides interpretable STN MER and prolonged anxiolysis. We suggest dexmedetomidine infusions without a loading dose, a relatively low infusion rate, and discontinuation after completion of the bur holes.