Deep brain stimulation in late stage Parkinson’s disease: A retrospective cost analysis in Germany
J Neurol. 2005-02-01; 252(2): 218-223
DOI: 10.1007/s00415-005-0640-3
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1. J Neurol. 2005 Feb;252(2):218-23.
Deep brain stimulation in late stage Parkinson’s disease: a retrospective cost
analysis in Germany.
Meissner W(1), Schreiter D, Volkmann J, Trottenberg T, Schneider GH, Sturm V,
Deuschl G, Kupsch A.
Author information:
(1)Department of Neurology, Charité Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Humboldt University,
Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
During the last few years, deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic
nucleus (STN) has emerged as a promising therapy, alleviating major motor
symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, in times of growing budgetary
limitations, medical decisions are no longer merely based on clinical efficacy,
but also on cost-effectiveness. Here we assess treatment costs (i. e. costs for
conservative pharmacological treatment and all in-patient admissions) of 46 PD
patients for one year before and two years after STN-DBS. The present data show
that total treatment costs were increased by 32% for the first year and decreased
by 54% for the second year of STN-DBS in comparison with preoperative values
while the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS III) was significantly
improved. The increase for the first year after surgery was mainly due to the
implantation of the STN electrodes and the stimulation device. Taken together,
STNDBS pays off from the second year of stimulation while motor symptoms are
significantly improved. The present study provides first data of an important
number of patients on clinical effectiveness and expenses in relation to STNDBS.
DOI: 10.1007/s00415-005-0640-3
PMID: 15729530 [Indexed for MEDLINE]