Detailed investigation of the levodopa response rates in distinct motor subscores in Parkinson’s disease patients with and without STN-DBS

To investigate the levodopa response (LDR) in a detailed manner in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with and without STN-DBS. In this respect, we sought to evaluate the effect of LDR on distinct motor symptoms one by one. The data of all consecutive PD patients who visited our movement disorders outpatient clinics at Etlik City Hospital between January 2023 and January 2024 were retrospectively evaluated. We enrolled patients whose full clinical assessments were available. The LDR was evaluated according to a previously described method. We included 194 PD patients in this study [49 STN-DBS (+) patients, 145 STN-DBS (-) patients]. The disease duration was greater in the STN-DBS group, as expected (12 y, 5 y, <i>p</i> = 0.00). The LDR ratios for the total score and subitem scores of the MDS-UPDRS-3 were similar between the patient groups. All the subscores of the MDS-UPDRS-3 were significantly lower for the ‘ON’ medication state than for the ‘OFF’ medication state in both patient groups. We demonstrated similar LDR rates for all motor subitems in patients with and without STN-DBS in a detailed manner. Our findings demonstrate the benefit of dopaminergic treatment on distinct motor symptoms in patients with STN-DBS.