Background and purpose: Spasticity is a common disorder and a major cause of long-term disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Our aim was to evaluatewhether a recently developed repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol, theintermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is effective in modulating lower limbspasticity in MS patients.Methods: Twenty MS patients were pseudorandomized to undergo a 2-week dailysessions of real or sham iTBS protocol. The H/M amplitude ratio of the Soleus Hreflex, a reliable neurophysiological index of spinal excitability and the ModifiedAshworth Scale (MAS) for spasticity were evaluated by blinded raters before and afterthe stimulation protocols.Results: Patients receiving real iTBS showed a significant reduction of H/M ampli-tude ratio and MAS scores 1 week after the stimulation and persisting up to 2 weeksafter the end of stimulation protocol. There were no significant effects for shamstimulation.Conclusions: These results show that iTBS, a safe, non-invasive, well-tolerated andfeasible protocol, is a promising tool for the treatment of spasticity in MS.
Background and purpose: Spasticity is a common disorder and a major cause of long-term disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Our aim was to evaluate whether a recently developed repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol, the intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is effective in modulating lower limb spasticity in MS patients. Methods: Twenty MS patients were pseudorandomized to undergo a 2-week daily sessions of real or sham iTBS protocol. The H/M amplitude ratio of the Soleus H reflex, a reliable neurophysiological index of spinal excitability and the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) for spasticity were evaluated by blinded raters before and after the stimulation protocols. Results: Patients receiving real iTBS showed a significant reduction of H/M amplitude ratio and MAS scores 1 week after the stimulation and persisting up to 2 weeks after the end of stimulation protocol. There were no significant effects for sham stimulation. Conclusions: These results show that iTBS, a safe, non-invasive, well-tolerated and feasible protocol, is a promising tool for the treatment of spasticity in MS. © 2009 EFNS.
Effects of intermittent theta burst stimulation on spasticity in patients with multiple sclerosis
Koch GPenultimo
;
2010
Abstract
Background and purpose: Spasticity is a common disorder and a major cause of long-term disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Our aim was to evaluate whether a recently developed repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol, the intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is effective in modulating lower limb spasticity in MS patients. Methods: Twenty MS patients were pseudorandomized to undergo a 2-week daily sessions of real or sham iTBS protocol. The H/M amplitude ratio of the Soleus H reflex, a reliable neurophysiological index of spinal excitability and the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) for spasticity were evaluated by blinded raters before and after the stimulation protocols. Results: Patients receiving real iTBS showed a significant reduction of H/M amplitude ratio and MAS scores 1 week after the stimulation and persisting up to 2 weeks after the end of stimulation protocol. There were no significant effects for sham stimulation. Conclusions: These results show that iTBS, a safe, non-invasive, well-tolerated and feasible protocol, is a promising tool for the treatment of spasticity in MS. © 2009 EFNS.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
