Levodopa-Carbidopa Intestinal Gel Injection for Patient with Severe Parkinson's Disease Followed by Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Case Report and Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Patients with Parkinson's disease have a high dislocation rate after total hip arthroplasty (THA). This study describes a case with severe Parkinson's disease who developed rapidly destructive coxarthrosis (RDC) and underwent THA using a dual mobility cup after a levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) infusion. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient is a 59-year-old female with a ten-year history of Parkinson's disease, which was first treated with oral levodopa. The patient developed RDC of the right hip joint. However, THA was difficult owing to Parkinson's disease and its treatment side effects, such as wearing-off, dyskinesia, and freezing of the gait, Thus, LCIG was initiated, and improvement in wearing-off and dyskinesia was observed. Two months after the LCIG therapy, the disease was controlled well. THA was subsequently performed using a dual mobility cup to prevent postoperative dislocation. Postoperatively, LCIG therapy was continuously administered to carefully manage the disease, which was controlled well with no increase in wearing-off and dyskinesia after surgery. At 1 year after surgery, the walking speed, stride length, and the Harris hip score improved compared to preoperatively. The UPDRS III motor score improved to eight without signs of wearing-off or dyskinesia. The Hoehn-Yahr scale was II in the "on" period and remained unchanged 1 year after surgery. The patient could walk without a cane and had satisfactory functional outcomes. CONCLUSION: This case proved that LCIG treatment performed preoperatively, followed by THA using a dual mobility cup, and strict management of Parkinson's disease could result in a satisfactory clinical course without recurrence of wearing-off and dyskinesia. Similar procedures may benefit other patients with Parkinson's disease who have previously been deemed unsuitable for THA.

Clinical utility of paced finger tapping assessment in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Background: The Finger Tapping (F-T) test is useful for assessing motor function of the upper limbs in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). However, quantitative evaluation of F-T for iNPH has not yet been established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of the quantitative F-T test and optimal measurement conditions as a motor evaluation and screening test for iNPH. Methods: Sixteen age-matched healthy controls (mean age 73 ± 5 years; 7/16 male) and fifteen participants with a diagnosis of definitive iNPH (mean age 76 ± 5 years; 8/15 male) completed the study (mean ± standard deviation). F-T performance of the index finger and thumb was quantified using a magnetic sensing device. The performance of repetitive F-T by participants was recorded in both not timing-regulated and timing-regulated conditions. The mean value of the maximum amplitude of F-T was defined as M-Amplitude, and the mean value of the maximum velocity of closure of F-T was defined as cl-Velocity. Results: Finger Tapping in the iNPH group, with or without timing control, showed a decrease in M-Amplitude and cl-Velocity compared to the control group. We found the only paced F-T with 2.0 Hz auditory stimuli was found to improve both M-Amplitude and cl-Velocity after shunt surgery. Conclusion: The quantitative assessment of F-T with auditory stimuli at the rate of 2.0 Hz may be a useful and potentially supplemental screening method for motor assessment in patients with iNPH.

Temporary deterioration of executive function after subthalamic deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Selective impairment of executive function has been shown in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of the Subthalamic Nucleus (STN). However, some patients experience difficulties in daily life, such as dissension in interpersonal relationships or a loss of lifestyle balance, in the short term after surgery. Our hypothesis is that these difficulties might be related to executive dysfunction. To elucidate the involvement of executive dysfunction in these difficulties, we assessed motor and executive function in the short term and long term after surgery. METHODS: We examined motor function and executive function in 30 patients who underwent bilateral STN-DBS for medically refractory PD. Patients were evaluated for executive function 1 month before surgery, 1 month after surgery, and 12 months after surgery using the Trail Making Test (TMT), the Modified Stroop Color Word Interference Test (MST) and tests of Verbal Fluency (VF). RESULTS: TMT-B, TMT (B/A), MST-B, VF-phonemic and VF-semantic scores were significantly poorer 1 month after STN-DBS. TMT-B, TMT (B/A) and VF-phonemic recovered to preoperative levels by 12 months after surgery. A reduction in dopaminergic medication 1 month after surgery was significantly correlated with deterioration of TMT (B/A). CONCLUSION: Temporary deterioration of executive function may occur in the short term after STN-DBS, whereas motor function is usually improved. PD patients undergoing STN-DBS should be managed during this period to better predict temporary executive dysfunction. Excessive reduction of dopaminergic medication after surgery might, at least in part, result in this deterioration of executive function.