ArticleStereotactic and functional neurosurgery2026
Challenging the Traditional Paradigm: Clinical and Functional Outcomes of Early versus Very-Early Subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease.
Article in Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionSubthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is an established treatment for advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). While traditionally reserved for later stages, growing evidence suggests earlier intervention may offer benefits. This study compares outcomes of early versus very-early DBS in a single-center cohort.
methodsThis retrospective study included 65 PD patients undergoing STN-DBS (2015-2025), grouped as very-early (<5 years disease duration, n = 32) or early (≥5 years, n = 33). Groups were comparable in age, sex, and disease severity. Results included Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y), UPDRS-III, MMSE, and levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD) assessed preoperatively, early postoperatively, and at 3 years.
resultsMean age was 62.45 ± 8.79 years; 69.2% were male. Both groups showed significant postoperative improvement in H&Y (p < 0.001), with partial decline at 3 years, though still better than baseline. No significant group-time interaction was observed for H&Y or UPDRS-III, indicating similar long-term motor outcomes. The group-by-time interaction for LEDD was significant (p = 0.002), reflecting different medication trajectories: both groups converged to similar postoperative LEDD levels despite the early DBS group starting from a substantially higher baseline (1,010 ± 514 vs 676 ± 394 mg/day; p = 0.005). Multivariable regression showed that baseline preoperative LEDD was the dominant predictor of postoperative medication reduction; after adjustment, surgical timing was no longer significantly associated with LEDD reduction (p = 0.622). Very-early DBS patients had lower early postoperative H&Y scores (p = 0.022). Six patients were reclassified as PD plus during follow-up; sensitivity analyses yielded consistent results.
conclusionBoth very-early and early STN-DBS provide significant short-term motor benefits, though some decline occurs over time. Very-early DBS was associated with greater postoperative medication reduction and more favorable early functional outcomes, while long-term motor outcomes remained comparable between groups. However, differences in baseline medication burden may have contributed to the observed LEDD reduction patterns.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.