Core assessment program for surgical interventional therapies in Parkinson's disease (CAPSIT-PD)

In 1992 the Core Assessment Program for Intracerebral Transplantations (CAP IT) was published providing the minimal requirements for a common patient e valuation protocol. Despite the intent, the program was thought to be too l aborious to carry out in large scale trials, and it also lacked evaluations of cognitive functions and quality of life. Moreover, the CAPIT was design ed for neural transplantation only and has not been revised since. Since th en, pallidotomy and deep brain stimulation have emerged as additional treat ment modalities but there exists no common tool for evaluation of, and betw een, the techniques. In 1996, within the framework of NECTAR (Network for E uropean CNS Transplantation and Restoration), a dedicated program entitled " Neurosurgical Interventions in Parkinson's Disease " (NIPD) was funded by the European Union Biomed 2 program to develop a new Core Assessment Progr am for Surgical Interventional Therapies in PD (CAPSIT-PD) and to establish an European registry for patients with PD subjected to functional neurosur gery. This article presents the recommendations of this new program.