Neuropsychological and motor functioning after unilateral anatomically guided posterior ventral pallidotomy. Preoperative performance and three-month follow-up

Abstract

This study presents baseline and 3-month follow-up motor and neuropsychological data for 22 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who underwent anatomically guided unilateral posterior ventral pallidotomy (PVP). Postsurgical improvements were seen in psychomotor speed, fine motor accuracy, and dyskinesia, whereas grip strength decreased on the side contralateral to the surgery. No change was detected in overall level of cognitive functioning, nor were changes demonstrated in memory, language, or working memory when the entire sample of patients was evaluated. When the group was divided on the basis of side of surgery, patients with left-sided pallidotomies showed a decline in verbal fluency. Patients and caregivers reported improvement in psychosocial functioning. These initial findings of improved motor performance and largely unaffected cognitive functions are consistent with results obtained with functional PVP and provide support for the use of anatomically guided posterior ventral pallidotomy in the treatment of motor symptoms of PD.