Cognitive outcome of pallidal deep brain stimulation for primary cervical dystonia: One year follow up results of a prospective multicenter trial.

BACKGROUND

Pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS) is effective in alleviating motor symptoms of medication refractory cervical dystonia, but little is known about effects on cognitive functions.

METHODS

As part of the first randomized, sham-controlled multicenter trial on DBS in medication-refractory primary cervical dystonia (ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00148889), a subgroup of 13 patients aged 39 to 69 underwent prospective neuropsychological long-term follow-up assessments. Various cognitive domains (memory, executive functions, attention, visual perception, mental arithmetic and verbal intelligence) were examined before and after 12 months of continuous DBS.

RESULTS

Only the number of produced words in a verbal fluency task which included alternating categories decreased after stimulation (p = 0.020). All other cognitive domains remained unchanged.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that long-term pallidal DBS for the treatment of primary cervical dystonia seems to be safe regarding global cognitive functioning.