Excitatory deep repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation with H-coil as add-on treatment of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease: an open label, pilot study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been proposed as a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). H-coils, inducing deeper and wider magnetic fields compared to traditional coils, may be potentially useful in PD, characterized by widespread, bilateral involvement of cortico-subcortical circuits. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety of repetitive deep TMS (rDTMS) with H-coil as add-on treatment of motor symptoms in PD. METHODS: Twenty-seven PD patients (aged 60.1 ± 6.8 y; PD-duration 6.3 ± 2.8 y; motor-UPDRS 39.6 ± 10.1) underwent 12 rDTMS sessions over 4 weeks at excitatory (10 Hz) frequency over primary motor (M1) and bilateral prefrontal (PF) regions. Motor UPDRS off therapy was assessed before and after the last rDTMS session, together with safety records at each treatment session. RESULTS: No drop-outs or adverse events were recorded. Motor UPDRS significantly improved after rDTMS (10.8 points average reduction; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: High-frequency rDTMS might be a safe treatment for PD motor symptoms. Further placebo-controlled, randomized studies are warranted.