Influence of Individual Symptomatology on the Surgical Results of Parkinson's Disease

ABSTRACT

Changes in the individual symptomatology were analyzed on twenty-nine patients with Parkinson's disease who underwent thirty-five stereotaxic thalamotomies to evaluate the influence of each symptom on the surgical results. The thalamotomy could obviously improve and prevent progression of tremor and rigidity but not bradykinesia and axial symptoms. Long-term follow-up wtudy with statistical analysis suggested that progressive worsening after surgery was due not to recurrence of tremor and rigidity but aggravation of bradykinesia and axial symptoms in the natural course of the disease. We believe that timely surgical treatment should be encouraged in patients presenting symptoms of tremor and rigidity.