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During the last few years, deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nuc leus (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 conservati ve pharmacological treatment and all in-patient admissions) of 46 PD patients f or one year before and two years after STN-DBS. The present data show that tota l 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 t he Unified Parkinon’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS III) was significantly improv ed. The increase for the first year after surgery was mainly due to the implanta tion of the STN electrodes and the stimulation device. Taken together, STN-DBS pays off from the second year of stimulation while motor symptoms are significan tly improved. The present study provides first data of an important number of pa tients on clinical effectiveness and expenses in relation to STN-DBS.
During the last few years, deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nuc leus (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 (ie costs for conservati ve pharmacological treatment and all in-patient admissions) of 46 PD patients f or one year before and two years after STN- DBS. The present data show that tota l 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 t he Unified Parkin’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS III) was significantly improv ed. The increase for the first year after surgery was mainly due to the implant of the STN electrodes and the stimulation device. Taken together, STN-DBS pays off from the second year of stimulatio The present study provides first data of an important number of pa tients on clinical effectiveness and expenses in relation to STN-DBS.