Neurosurgical treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

1998 ◽  
Vol 173 (S35) ◽  
pp. 79-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Jenike

Background Case reports suggest that neurosurgical operations can improve symptoms in patients with severe treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, it is unclear which procedure is best and which may produce the most side-effects.Method I review the literature on the efficacy and complications of four frequently used neurosurgical procedures (cingulotomy, capsulotomy, limbic leucotomy and subcaudate tractotomy) that are used to treat refractory OCD.Results Since the vast majority of patients who underwent surgery were severely and chronically disabled, it is likely that these procedures were of assistance in alleviating some of their symptoms. It is currently impossible to determine which surgical procedure is the best for a particular patient.Conclusions Despite a lack of controlled data and inconsistencies in the literature, it appears that when nonsurgical treatments have failed to improve OCD symptoms significantly in severely ill patients, at least partial relief can be obtained by some people with OCD by neurosurgery Results of cumulative studies strongly support the need for continued research in this area.

2012 ◽  
Vol 72 (11) ◽  
pp. 964-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H. Bloch ◽  
Suzanne Wasylink ◽  
Angeli Landeros-Weisenberger ◽  
Kaitlyn E. Panza ◽  
Eileen Billingslea ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre F. Gentil ◽  
Antonio C. Lopes ◽  
Darin D. Dougherty ◽  
Christian Rück ◽  
David Mataix-Cols ◽  
...  

Object Recent findings have suggested a correlation between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptom dimensions and clinical outcome after limbic system surgery for treatment-refractory patients. Based on previous evidence that the hoarding dimension is associated with worse outcome in conventional treatments, and may have a neural substrate distinct from OCD, the authors examined a large sample of patients undergoing limbic surgery (40 with capsulotomy, 37 with cingulotomy) and investigated if symptom dimensions, in particular hoarding, could influence treatment outcome. Methods Data from 77 patients from 3 different research centers at São Paulo (n = 17), Boston (n = 37), and Stockholm (n = 23) were analyzed. Dimensional Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS; São Paulo) or Y-BOCS Symptom Checklist scores (Boston and Stockholm) were used to code the presence of 4 well-established symptom dimensions: forbidden thoughts, contamination/cleaning, symmetry/order, and hoarding. Reductions in YBOCS scores determined clinical outcome. Results Mean Y-BOCS scores decreased 34.2% after surgery (95% CI 27.2%–41.3%), with a mean follow-up of 68.1 months. Patients with hoarding symptoms had a worse response to treatment (mean Y-BOCS decrease of 22.7% ± 25.9% vs 41.6% ± 32.2%, respectively; p = 0.006), with no significant effect of surgical modality (capsulotomy vs cingulotomy). Patients with forbidden thoughts apparently also had a worse response to treatment, but this effect was dependent upon the co-occurrence of the hoarding dimension. Only the negative influence of the hoarding dimension remained when an ANOVA model was performed, which also controlled for preoperative symptom severity. Conclusions The presence of hoarding symptoms prior to surgery was associated with worse clinical outcome after the interventions. Patients with OCD under consideration for ablative surgery should be carefully screened for hoarding symptoms or comorbid hoarding disorder. For these patients, the potentially reduced benefits of surgery need to be carefully considered against potential risks.


2015 ◽  
Vol 76 (08) ◽  
pp. 1075-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Pittenger ◽  
Michael H. Bloch ◽  
Suzanne Wasylink ◽  
Eileen Billingslea ◽  
Ryan Simpson ◽  
...  

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 641-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne K Goodman ◽  
Herbert E Ward ◽  
Tanya K Murphy

Neurosurgery ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Azriel ◽  
Sarah Farrand ◽  
Maria Di Biase ◽  
Andrew Zalesky ◽  
Elaine Lui ◽  
...  

AbstractBACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCEObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling psychiatric disorder, mainly treated with psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. Surgical intervention may be appropriate for patients with treatment-refractory OCD. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an alternative for previously common ablative surgical procedures. Tractography has been proposed as a method for individualizing DBS treatment and may have the potential to improve efficacy.CLINICAL PRESENTATIONWe present a patient with treatment-refractory OCD previously treated with bilateral leucotomies, who underwent DBS surgery with targeting informed by tractography. Preoperative tractography to identify suitable DBS targets was undertaken. Structural images were also utilized for standard stereotactic surgical planning. The anteromedial globus pallidus internus (amGPi) was chosen as the target bilaterally after consideration of white matter projections to frontal cortical regions and neurosurgical approach. Bilateral amGPi DBS surgery was undertaken without adverse events. At 16-mo follow-up, there was a 48.5% reduction in OCD symptom severity as measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale.CONCLUSIONThe amGPi can be a successful DBS target for OCD. This is the first known case to report on DBS surgery postleucotomies for OCD and highlights the utility of tractography for surgical planning in OCD.


2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damiaan Denys ◽  
Mariska Mantione ◽  
Martijn Figee ◽  
Pepijn van den Munckhof ◽  
Frank Koerselman ◽  
...  

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