Motor function gains from deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease appear durable over a decade, results of a small blinded study showed. Among 18 patients evaluated 10 years after device implantation, total motor scores remained significantly better with stimulation than with either pre-implantation baseline or with the device turned off, according to Elena Moro, MD, PhD, of Toronto Western Hospital, and colleagues. The treatment didn’t stop deterioration in speech, gait, and postural instability, though, which eroded some of the initial gains, the group reported online in the Archives of Neurology.
