A randomized clinical trial of high-dosage coenzyme Q10 in early Parkinson disease: no evidence of benefit.

Importance: Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), an antioxidant that supports mitochondrial function, has been shown in preclinical Parkinson disease (PD) models to reduce the loss of dopamine neurons, and was safe and well tolerated in early-phase human studies. A previous phase II study suggested possible clinical benefit.

Objective: To examine whether CoQ10 could slow disease progression in early PD.

Assessment of the variability in the anatomical position and size of the subthalamic nucleus among patients with advanced Parkinson's disease using magnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose: Targeting of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) during deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery using standard atlas coordinates is used in some centers. Such coordinates are accurate for only a subgroup of patients, and subgroup size depends on the extent of inter-individual variation in STN position/size and degree to which atlas represents average anatomical relations. Few studies have addressed this issue.

Isolation of the brain-related factor of the error between intended and achieved position of deep brain stimulation electrodes implanted into the subthalamic nucleus for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Objective: Although a few studies have quantified errors in the implantation of deep brain stimulation electrodes into the subthalamic nucleus (STN), a significant trend in error direction has not been reported. We have previously found that an error in axial plane, which is of most concern because it cannot be compensated for during deep brain stimulation programming, had a posteromedial trend. We hypothesized that this trend results from a predominance of a directionally oriented error factor of brain origin.

Detection of the subthalamic nucleus in microelectrographic recordings in Parkinson disease using the high-frequency (> 500 hz) neuronal background. Technical note.

Accurate and fast localization of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) during intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring can improve the outcome of deep brain stimulation surgery. The authors show a simple method of detecting the STN that is based on an analysis of the high-frequency (> 500 Hz) background (HFB) activity of neurons. The HFB reflects multiunit spiking activity close to the recording electrode, and its characteristic profile, which is higher in the STN than in neighboring structures, and facilitates delineation of both the dorsal and ventral STN borders.