Exploring risk factors for stuttering development in Parkinson disease after deep brain stimulation.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Stuttering is a speech disorder with disruption of verbal fluency, occasionally present in Parkinson's disease (PD). PD co-incident stuttering may either worsen or improve after Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS).

METHODS:

Sixteen out of 453 PD patients (3.5%) exhibited stuttering after DBS (PD-S) and were compared with a group of patients without stuttering (PD-NS) using non-parametric statistics.

RESULTS:

After DBS, stuttering worsened in 3 out of 4 patients with co-incidental stuttering. Most PD-S underwent subthalamic (STN) DBS, but 4 were implanted in the globus pallidus (GPi). Nine out of 16 PD-S (56.3%) reported a positive familial history for stuttering compared to none of the PD-NS. PD-S were mainly male (81.3%) with slight worse motor features compared to PD-NS.

CONCLUSION:

Herein, we describe a group of PD patients developing stuttering after DBS and report the presence of a positive familial history for stuttering as the most relevant risk factor, suggesting a possible underlying genetic cause. The fact that stuttering occurred after either STN or GPi DBS is an argument against the impact of medication reduction on stuttering.

• Authors: Marina Picillo, Gustavo B Vincos, Francesco Sammartino, Andres M Lozano, Alfonso Fasano
• Journal: Parkinsonism & related disorders (Parkinsonism Relat Disord) Vol. 38 Pg. 85-89 (05 2017) ISSN: 1873-5126 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 28237852 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Aged
• Deep Brain Stimulation (adverse effects, methods)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Parkinson Disease (therapy)
• Risk Factors
• Statistics, Nonparametric
• Stuttering (epidemiology, etiology)