Non-Invasive Neuromodulation in the Rehabilitation of Pisa Syndrome in Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Roberto De Icco, Alessia Putortì, Marta Allena, Micol Avenali, Carlotta Dagna, Daniele Martinelli, Silvano Cristina, Valentina Grillo, Mauro Fresia, Vito Bitetto, Giuseppe Cosentino, Francesca Valentino, Enrico Alfonsi, Giorgio Sandrini, Antonio Pisani, Cristina Tassorelli
Abstract
Background Pisa syndrome (PS) is a frequent postural complication of Parkinson's disease (PD). PS poorly responds to anti-parkinsonian drugs and the improvement achieved with neurorehabilitation tends to fade in 6 months or less. Transcranial direct current stimulation (t-DCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that showed promising results in improving specific symptoms in different movement disorders. Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the role of bi-hemispheric t-DCS as an add-on to a standardized hospital rehabilitation program in the management of PS in PD. Methods This study included 28 patients with PD and PS (21 men, aged 72.9 ± 5.1 years) who underwent a 4-week intensive neurorehabilitation treatment and were randomized to receive: i) t-DCS (t-DCS group, n = 13) for 5 daily sessions (20 min−2 mA) with bi-hemispheric stimulation over the primary motor cortex (M1), or ii) sham stimulation (sham group, n = 15) with the same duration and cadence. At baseline (T0), end of rehabilitation (T1), and 6 months later (T2) patients were evaluated with both trunk kinematic analysis and clinical scales, including UPDRS-III, Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and Numerical Rating Scale for lumbar pain. Results When compared to the sham group, the t-DCS group achieved a more pronounced improvement in several variables: overall posture ( p = 0.014), lateral trunk inclination ( p = 0.013) during upright standing position, total range of motion of the trunk ( p = 0.012), FIM score ( p = 0.048), and lumbar pain intensity ( p = 0.017). Conclusions Our data support the use of neuromodulation with t-DCS as an add-on to neurorehabilitation for the treatment of patients affected by PS in PD.