Stuttering in Parkinson's disease after deep brain stimulation: A note on dystonia and low-frequency stimulation

J Clin Neurosci. 2018 Apr:50:150-151. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2018.01.042. Epub 2018 Feb 1.

Abstract

Stuttering, a speech fluency disorder, is a rare complication of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in Parkinson's Disease (PD). We report a 61 years-old patient with PD, afflicted by severe On and Off dystonia, treated with Subthalamic Nucleus DBS that developed post-DBS stuttering while on 130 Hz stimulation. Stuttering reduction was noted when frequency was changed to 80 Hz, but the previously observed dystonia improvement was lost. There are no reports in literature on patients developing stuttering with low-frequency stimulation. We question if low-frequency stimulation could have a role for managing PD's post-DBS stuttering, and notice that stuttering improvement was associated with dystonia worsening suggesting that they are distinct phenomena.

Keywords: Deep brain stimulation; Dystonia; Parkinson’s disease; Stuttering.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Deep Brain Stimulation / adverse effects*
  • Deep Brain Stimulation / methods*
  • Dystonia / etiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Parkinson Disease / therapy*
  • Stuttering / etiology*
  • Subthalamic Nucleus / physiology