Publications by authors named "Valerie Fraix"

The impact of subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) on neuropsychiatric fluctuations in Parkinson´s disease (PD) remains unclear. The Neuropsychiatric Fluctuations Scale (NFS) can help to fill this gap, directly measuring fluctuations between the OFF- and ON-medication conditions. The NFS provides NFS-plus (hyperdopaminergic) and NFS-minus (hypodopaminergic) sub-scores.

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Pregnancy in women with early-onset Parkinson's disease (PD) is likely to have a higher frequency given the trend toward increasing maternal age, thus resulting in a greater overlap time between childbearing age and PD risk. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy is nowadays offered to PD patients at earlier stage of the disease, when women can still be pre-menopausal. However, few data are available about DBS safety during pregnancy.

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Objective: Bradykinesia and rigidity are considered closely related motor signs in Parkinson disease (PD), but recent neurophysiological findings suggest distinct pathophysiological mechanisms. This study aims to examine and compare longitudinal changes in bradykinesia and rigidity in PD patients treated with bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS).

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the clinical progression of appendicular and axial bradykinesia and rigidity was assessed up to 15 years after STN-DBS in the best treatment conditions (ON medication and ON stimulation).

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Background: The impact of focal dystonia on gait has attracted little attention and remains elusive. Considering the importance of both visual and head control in gait, blepharospasm and cervical dystonia should affect gait. Improvement of cervical/eyelid control following botulinum toxin (BTX) injections would translate into gait changes.

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Background: The long-term prognosis of impulsive compulsive disorders (ICD) remains poorly studied in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objective: Evaluating the natural history of ICD and its impact on PD symptoms including cognition and treatment adjustments.

Materials And Methods: We assessed PD patients at baseline (BL) with (BL-ICD+) or without (BL-ICD-) ICD despite dopamine agonist (DA) exposure of > 300 mg levodopa-equivalent daily dose for > 12 months at baseline and after more than two years of follow-up.

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Few studies have considered the influence of motor sign asymmetry on motivated behaviors in de novo drug-naïve Parkinson's disease (PD). We tested whether motor sign asymmetry could be associated with different motivated behavior patterns in de novo drug-naïve PD. We performed a cross-sectional study in 128 de novo drug-naïve PD patients and used the Ardouin Scale of Behavior in Parkinson's disease (ASBPD) to assess a set of motivated behaviors.

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Background And Purpose: The impact of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on caregivers' burden is understudied. We perform a systematic review and meta-synthesis aggregating qualitative studies involving partners of people with Parkinson disease (PwP) to explore their experiences and unmet needs.

Methods: A systematic review for retrieving qualitative studies included six databases: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane, PsycInfo, and Scopus.

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Background: Neuropsychiatric fluctuations (NpsyF) are frequent and disabling in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). In OFF-medication, NpsyF entail neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) like anxiety, apathy, sadness, and fatigue. In ON-medication, NpsyF consist in NPS, such as high mood, hypomania, and hyperactivity.

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Background: Longitudinal measures of structural brain changes using MRI in relation to clinical features and progression patterns in PD have been assessed in previous studies, but few were conducted in well-defined and large cohorts, including prospective clinical assessments of both motor and non-motor symptoms.

Objective: We aimed to identify brain volumetric changes characterizing PD patients, and determine whether regional brain volumetric characteristics at baseline can predict motor, psycho-behavioral and cognitive evolution at one year in a prospective cohort of PD patients.

Methods: In this multicentric 1 year longitudinal study, PD patients and healthy controls from the MPI-R2* cohort were assessed for demographical, clinical and brain volumetric characteristics.

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Bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is an effective treatment in advanced Parkinson's Disease (PD). However, the effects of STN-DBS on speech are still debated, particularly in the long-term follow-up. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of bilateral STN-DBS on speech in a cohort of advanced PD patients treated with bilateral STN-DBS.

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Introduction: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) mapping has become a critical tool for exploratory studies of the human corticomotor (M1) organization. Here, we propose to gather existing cutting-edge TMS-EMG and TMS-EEG approaches into a combined multi-dimensional TMS mapping that considers local and whole-brain excitability changes as well as state and time-specific changes in cortical activity. We applied this multi-dimensional TMS mapping approach to patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the sub-thalamic nucleus (STN) ON and OFF.

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Objective: To assess the long-term effects of bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on gait in a cohort of advanced Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients.

Methods: This observational study included consecutive PD patients treated with bilateral STN-DBS. Different stimulation and drug treatment conditions were assessed: on-stimulation/off-medication, off-stimulation/off-medication, and on-stimulation/on-medication.

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Objective: To evaluate correlations between speech and gait parameters in the long term and under different medication and subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) conditions in a cohort of advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients.

Methods: This observational study included consecutive PD patients treated with bilateral STN-DBS. Axial symptoms were evaluated using a standardized clinical-instrumental approach.

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Background: The EARLYSTIM trial demonstrated for Parkinson's disease patients with early motor complications that deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) and best medical treatment (BMT) was superior to BMT alone.

Objective: This prospective, ancillary study on EARLYSTIM compared changes in blinded speech intelligibility assessment between STN-DBS and BMT over 2 years, and secondary outcomes included non-speech oral movements (maximum phonation time [MPT], oral diadochokinesis), physician- and patient-reported assessments.

Methods: STN-DBS (n = 102) and BMT (n = 99) groups underwent assessments on/off medication at baseline and 24 months (in four conditions: on/off medication, ON/OFF stimulation-for STN-DBS).

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Several postmortem studies have shown iron accumulation in the substantia nigra of Parkinson's disease patients. Iron concentration can be estimated via MRI-R mapping. To assess the changes in R occurring in Parkinson's disease patients compared to controls, a multicentre transversal study was carried out on a large cohort of Parkinson's disease patients (n = 163) with matched controls (n = 82).

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In this retrospective study, we longitudinally analyzed axial impairment and falls in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) and subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS). Axial scores and falling frequency were examined at baseline, and 1, 10, and 15 years after surgery. Preoperative demographic and clinical data, including PD duration and severity, phenotype, motor and cognitive scales, medications, and vascular changes on neuroimaging were examined as possible risk factors through Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses.

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Bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is an effective treatment in advanced Parkinson's Disease (PD). However, the effects of STN-DBS on freezing of gait (FOG) are still debated, particularly in the long-term follow-up (≥5-years). The main aim of the current study is to evaluate the long-term effects of STN-DBS on FOG.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores whether genetic variables can predict outcomes of subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).
  • Researchers aimed to replicate an earlier finding that a specific genetic variant (SNCA rs356220) was linked to better STN-DBS responses and looked at additional genetic factors from recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS).
  • Although the SNCA rs356220 variant didn't predict motor outcomes, it was associated with improved quality of life; other genetic markers showed predictive value for DBS outcomes, but polygenic risk scores were not useful in this context.
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Background: In Parkinson's disease (PD), the side of motor symptoms onset may influence disease progression, with a faster motor symptom progression in patients with left side lateralization. Moreover, worse neuropsychological outcomes after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) have been described in patients with predominantly left-sided motor symptoms. The objective of this study was to evaluate if the body side of motor symptoms onset may predict motor outcome of bilateral STN-DBS.

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Background And Purpose: Studies on long-term nonmotor outcomes of subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson disease (PD) are scarce. This study reports on very long-term non-motor and motor outcomes in one of the largest cohorts of people with advanced PD, treated for >10 years with subthalamic nucleus stimulation. The main outcome was to document the evolution of independence in activities of daily living.

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Background: Previous studies described a parkinsonian personality characterized as rigid, introverted, and cautious; however, little is known about personality traits in de novo Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and their relationships with motor and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Objective: To investigate personality in de novo PD and explore its relationship with PD symptoms.

Methods: Using Cloninger's biosocial model, we assessed personality in 193 de novo PD patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • Fatigue is a common and significant issue experienced by patients in the early stages of Parkinson's disease (PD), impacting their quality of life significantly.
  • A study involving 197 new PD patients showed that fatigue correlates strongly with higher levels of apathy and depression, as well as anxiety, with nearly 29% of patients reporting fatigue.
  • The findings suggest that fatigue should be considered as a key component of the neuropsychiatric triad (apathy, depression, anxiety) in PD, indicating a need for better management strategies.
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