P032 Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Question Freezing of gait (FOG) is frustrating problem in Parkinson’s disease (PD). There is no effective treatment. The aim of study is to find brain stimulation areas showing more effective response. Methods Ten patients with PD were participated. All of them had FOG. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) were applied to brain for two consecutive days. We measured the number of steps, completion time and freezing episodes during the stand-walk-sit (SWS) test before and after intervention. We also tested freezing episodes on two FOG provoking tasks before and after rTMS treatment. Two stimulation sites of their brain were pseudo-randomly assigned: the motor cortex (MC) or supplementary motor cortex (SMC). Patients were blinded as to which site was selected. Four rTMS blocks were delivered, each 10 min apart in each day. One block consisted of 15 25 Hz of 1-s duration with an intertrain interval of 10 s at 100% resting motor threshold. Results The freezing episodes during the SWS test were more reduced in SMC stimulation than in MC (p = 0.053). Conclusion Our study suggests that SMC stimulation may be a more appropriate candidate in PD patients with freezing of gait.