Differential and better response to deep brain stimulation of chorea compared to dystonia in Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant and progressive neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by motor, cognitive and psychiatric manifestations. Chorea and dystonia are features that may be troublesome to some patients and may potentially prove unresponsive to pharmacological treatments. There are several reports on the results of globus pallidus internus deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for HD.

Low-Frequency Deep Brain Stimulation for Dystonia: Lower is Not Always Better.

Background: It has been observed that low-frequency stimulation (LFS) may be effective for dystonia, and the use of LFS may alleviate the need for frequent battery changes in a subset of patients. The aim of this study was to analyze LFS as a strategy to treat deep brain stimulation (DBS) patients with various dystonias.

Methods: Subjects had to receive a minimum of 6 months of clinical follow-up at the University of Florida, and were required to have a minimum of 3 months on a LFS trial.