Parkinson's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Parkinson's Disease, including details on symptoms, treatment, genetics, medication.

Subthalamic stimulation modulates cortical control of urinary bladder in Parkinson's disease.

Herzog J, Weiss PH, Assmus A, Wefer B, Seif C, Braun PM, Herzog H, Volkmann J, Deuschl G, Fink GR

Department of Neurology, Christian Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is an effective therapy for off-period motor symptoms and dyskinesias in advanced Parkinson's disease. Clinical studies have shown that STN-DBS also ameliorates urinary bladder function in Parkinson's disease patients by delaying the first desire to void and increasing bladder capacity. This study aimed at investigating the effect of STN-DBS on the neural mechanisms underlying cerebral bladder control. Using PET to measure changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), 11 patients with bilateral STN-DBS were studied during urodynamic bladder filling in STN-DBS ON and OFF condition. A filled bladder led to a significant increase of rCBF in the anterior cingulate cortex, which was further enhanced during STN-DBS OFF. A significant interaction between bladder state and STN-DBS was observed in lateral frontal cortex with increased rCBF when the bladder was filled during STN-DBS OFF. The data suggest that STN-DBS ameliorates bladder dysfunction and that this modulation may result from facilitated processing of afferent bladder information.

Published 29 November 2006 in Brain, 129: 3366-75.
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