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J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2002;73:240 doi:10.1136/jnnp.73.3.240
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Editorial commentary

The effects of deep brain stimulation and levodopa on postural sway in subjects with Parkinson's disease

  1. D J Burn
  1. Department of Neurology, Regional Neurosciences Centre, Newcastle General Hospital, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6BE, UK
  1. Correspondence to:
 Dr D J Burn;
 d.j.burn{at}ncl.ac.uk

    Deep brain stimulation reduces postural instability in Parkinson's disease

    Postural instability, leading to falls, is a common feature of neurodegenerative parkinsonian syndromes, often associated with injury and hospital admission. In a recent prospective study of falls in 109 patients with Parkinson's disease, 68% fell during a one year follow up period.1 Postural instability in Parkinson's disease is notoriously refractory to levodopa treatment, implicating the involvement of non-dopaminergic pathways. A previous report of the use of continuous bilateral high frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's disease suggested that marked improvement in motor disability was accompanied by significant improvement in axial symptoms, and that a synergistic effect was obtained when …

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