Unilateral pallidotomy in PD: a controlled study of cognitive and behavioral effects. The Netherlands Pallidotomy Study (NEPAS) group.
rct · Level II
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 10720274.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether unilateral pallidotomy affects cognitive and behavioral functioning. METHODS: At baseline and after 6 months we assessed neuropsychological functioning in 35 patients with advanced PD. After baseline examination, patients were randomized to pallidotomy within 1 month (6 left-sided, 13 right-sided) or to pallidotomy after follow-up assessment 6 months later (n = 16; control group). We performed neuropsychological tests of language, visuospatial function, memory, attention, and executive functions. Self ratings and proxy ratings of memory problems and dysexecutive symptoms were also collected. RESULTS: No significant differences over time were found between pallidotomy and control groups, with the exception of a decrease of verbal fluency in the left-sided pallidotomy group. CONCLUSIONS: Unilateral pallidotomy is relatively safe with respect to cognition and behavior. Left-sided pallidotomy may lead to minor deterioration in verbal fluency. The sample size of this study is too small, however, to rule out the possibility of infrequent but clinically important side effects.