Clinical Research Directory

Effect of Physical Activity on the Course of Parkinson's Disease in Patients With Bilateral DBS-STN Stimulation.

Parkinson's disease is a common, progressive neurodegenerative disorder. The degeneration of dopaminergic neurons is associated with characteristic clinical symptoms such as tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement (bradykinesia) and postural instability. Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (DBS-STN) is a recognized and widely used method of treating advanced stages of Parkinson's disease. It improves clinical symptoms such as tremor, rigidity and slowness of movement (bradykinesia). This method has limited application for late motor and non-motor symptoms such as: akinesia, postural instability, gait, including the phenomenon of "freezing", recurrent falls, balance and dysarthria. These symptoms reduce the quality of life of patients and make them dependent on their caregivers. There is a clear need to develop additional forms of therapy that complement deep brain stimulation in controlling late motor and non-motor symptoms. Physical activity is a commonly used and recommended form of therapy for patients with Parkinson's disease and a complement to pharmacological therapy, improving gait, balance and quality of life. However, there are no clear recommendations including patients after implantation of DBS-STN stimulators to the group undergoing physiotherapy. To this day, only one clinical trial has been registered assessing the effect of physiotherapy on balance and gait in patients with DBS-STN.

Comparing Biomarker-Guided DBS Programming With Standard Clinical Monopolar Programming

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether an objective, data-guided approach to programming deep brain stimulation (DBS) can improve motor outcomes in people with Parkinson's disease who undergo DBS surgery. The study includes adults aged 30 to 70 years with Parkinson's disease who are candidates for DBS. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does DBS programming based on objective markers (brain imaging and brain signals) reduce the amount of daily time patients spend in the OFF state more than conventional clinical programming? Does this programming approach improve quality of life and motor symptoms compared with standard programming? Researchers will compare conventional DBS programming based on clinical monopolar review with DBS programming guided by electrode location on neuroimaging and beta brain signals recorded from the implanted device, to see if the objective approach leads to better motor control and less OFF time. Participants will: Undergo DBS surgery using a clinically approved DBS system Be randomly assigned to one of two DBS programming strategies Wear inertial sensors at home for several days at different time points to objectively measure motor symptoms Attend scheduled clinical visits for DBS programming and motor and non-motor assessments Have adaptive DBS activated after 3 months and continue follow-up until 6 months after programming begins