Researchers at Seoul National University Hospital have found they can enhance the efficacy of deep brain stimulation treatment by evaluating the asymmetry of left and right symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in objective figures.

According to the researchers, Parkinson's disease occurs when 70 percent of the dopamine neuron located in the midbrain is lost when compared to healthy people. It is the most common senile degenerative brain disease following Alzheimer's disease and occurs in about two out of 100 people over 65.

Symptoms include tremor, stiffness, postural anxiety, and walking disorder, most of which are more severe either on the patient's left or right side.

Although there is no cure for the disease, hospitals use dopamine supplementation and brain implantation to prevent or slow progress through deep brain stimulation, which regulates the neural circuit through the application of electrical stimulation by inserting electrodes into the brain.

The research team, led by Professors Im Hyung-jun and Park Sun-ha, aimed to evaluate the changes of laterality after deep brain stimulation and the association between dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using 123I FP-CIT and symptom laterality in Parkinson's before and after deep brain stimulation.

The 123I-FP-CIT is a radioligand for brain dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging that is useful for the differential diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

Using the method, the team was able to monitor objectively the various symptoms of asymmetric Parkinson's disease before and after conducting the deep brain stimulation.

"After deep brain stimulation, the asymmetry of symptoms expressed on the left or right side may change," the team said. "Using the results of this study, we expect that it will be able to control deep brain stimulation programming for patients with asymmetric Parkinson's disease more precisely."

Professor Im said, "Brain monophoton tomography or brain positron tomography (18F FP-CIT PET) test, which measures dopamine transporters of dopamine cells of brain black matter, will be useful for Parkinson's patients who have undergone deep brain stimulation,"

Clinical Nuclear Medicine published the results of the study.

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