RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A case report on fixation instability in Parkinson’s disease with bilateral deep brain stimulation implants
JF Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
JO J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 443
OP 447
DO 10.1136/jnnp.2007.117192
VO 79
IS 4
A1 H A C Wark
A1 P C Garell
A1 A L Walker
A1 M A Basso
YR 2008
UL http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/79/4/443.abstract
AB We report on fixation instabilities in a patient diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD). This patient underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery bilaterally in the vicinity of the subthalamic nuclei (STN). Examination of the eye movements of this patient revealed marked fixation instability compared with a healthy age matched control. The eye movements occurring during fixation differed from other reports of fixation instabilities in that they interrupted fixation for only brief durations. These interruptive saccades (IS) had saccade-like amplitude velocity relationships. The frequency of these IS was higher in the patient with PD than in the healthy age matched control. Furthermore, the frequency of the IS in the patient reduced toward control with application of bilateral DBS in the vicinity of the STN. From our observations we conclude that fixation ability may be altered in PD and improved with DBS.