Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Juvenile Parkinsonism: Case Report
Arq. bras. neurocir; 38 (2), 2019
Publication year: 2019
Juvenile parkinsonism (JP) is characterized by the clinical manifestation of Parkinson
syndrome before the age of 21 years old. This entity is often associated with genetic
mutations. After all the possibilities of clinical treatment have been exhausted, surgical
treatment is recommended, performed via deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the
subthalamic nucleus (STN) or in the internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPi).
The present study aimed to report the case of a patient with JP who underwent DBS in
the STN with good clinical response. Neuromodulation via DBS is an option for the
treatment of JP. However, since this entity is very rare, and even more peculiar when
treated surgically, more studies are necessary to evaluate DBS used to control
refractory manifestations and levodopa-induced dyskinesia, as well as surgical complications
that may occur, aiming to gather more knowledge of the surgical management
of JP. Despite the dysarthria after the DBS, the patient presented a satisfactory
response regarding the symptoms, corroborated by the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire
(PDQ-39) score, which was 61.19% before the procedure, and decreased to
21.05% 14 months after the DBS.