Clinical Trail of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in the Treatment of Upper Limb Bradykinesia in Parkinson' Disease' Patients

Launched by XINHUA HOSPITAL, SHANGHAI JIAO TONG UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · Oct 11, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This study tests whether high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can help with upper-limb bradykinesia (slowness of movement in the arms) in people with Parkinson’s disease. It’s a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial done at Xinhua Hospital in Shanghai. Participants are randomly assigned to either real rTMS or a sham (fake) stimulation that looks and sounds the same but doesn’t deliver actual brain stimulation. The treatment consists of 10 sessions over two weeks (daily for five days each week). Researchers will look at changes in overall motor symptoms using the MDS-UPDRS Part III score, from day one and up to about one year, with early checks planned at about 2 and 4 weeks.

Who may be eligible: adults aged roughly 50 to 75 years with Parkinson’s disease, in Hoehn and Yahr stage 1–2 (mild to moderate), whose symptoms are mainly bradykinesia and started on the left side, and who can understand and participate in the study. People with certain brain implants or other neurological conditions, significant tremor, or recent TMS treatment (within the last 3 months) are not eligible. The trial will also use near-infrared brain imaging to observe brain activity during simple hand movements as a secondary measure. If you’re interested, this is a single-center study actively enrolling, with completion expected around mid-2025.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stage 1-2
• • Able to understand and cooperate with the study
• • Predominantly characterized by bradykinesia
• • Onset on the left side
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Contraindications for TMS including DBS surgery, Ventriculoperitoneal shunt, etc
• • Other neurological disorders
• • Significant resting tremor, with MDS-UPDRS-III tremor score ≥3
• • Resting threshold cannot be measured
• • Received other TMS treatments within the last 3 months