Bilateral globus pallidus internus (GPi) deep brain stimulation for cervical dystonia: Effects on motor and non-motor symptoms within 5 years follow

Cervical Dystonia (“CD”) is a movement disorder characterised by sustained muscle contractions in the neck, causing involuntary posturing. Deep brain stimulation (“DBS”) of the globus pallidal internus (GPi) is advanced treatment for pharmaco-refractory patients. As CD is a rare disease, cohort studies are often limited to patients of heterogenous disease profile, small sample size or short follow-up. This study firstly aimed to measure the efficacy of GPi-DBS on motor and non-motor symptoms of CD. A secondary aim was to evaluate if clinical factors – such as age, disease duration and baseline disease severity – influence variability of motor outcomes. 37 idiopathic CD patients were recruited from movement disorders clinics at The Walton NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK. Patients were assessed pre-operatively, and 1 year, 3 years and 5 years post-operatively with the following clinical scales: Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (“TWSTRS”), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and EuroQuol-5D. GPI-DBS significantly improved overall TWSTRS scores by 57% from baseline to 5Y FU (p