scholarly journals Deep Brain Stimulation for Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome: Toward Limbic Targets

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Servello ◽  
Tommaso Francesco Galbiati ◽  
Roberta Balestrino ◽  
Guglielmo Iess ◽  
Edvin Zekaj ◽  
...  

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by tics and, frequently, psychiatric and behavioral comorbidities. Above all, obsessive compulsive disorder/behavior (OCD/OCB) influences the clinical picture and has a severe impact on quality of life, eventually more than the tics themselves. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective therapy in selected, refractory cases. Clinical response to DBS may vary according to the clinical picture, comorbidities, and to the anatomical target. This retrospective study compares the results obtained from DBS in the ventralis oralis/centromedian-parascicular nucleus of the thalamus (Voi-Cm/Pf) (41 patients) and antero-medial Globus Pallidus internus (am-GPi) (14 patients), evaluating clinical response over time by means of Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) and Yale–Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) scores over a period of 48 months. A significant and stable improvement in the YGTSS and YBOCS has been obtained in both groups (p < 0.001). There was a significant difference in YBOCS improvement over time between the am-GPi group and the Voi-Cm/Pf group, indicating a better and faster control of OCD/OCB symptoms in the former group. The ratio of hardware removal was 23% and limited to 13 patients in the Voi-Cm/Pf group. These results confirm that DBS is an effective therapy in treating GTS and suggest that the am-GPi might be superior to Voi-Cm/Pf in alleviating comorbid OCD/OCB.

2019 ◽  
Vol 90 (10) ◽  
pp. 1078-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara A Johnson ◽  
P Thomas Fletcher ◽  
Domenico Servello ◽  
Alberto Bona ◽  
Mauro Porta ◽  
...  

BackgroundDeep brain stimulation (DBS) can be an effective therapy for tics and comorbidities in select cases of severe, treatment-refractory Tourette syndrome (TS). Clinical responses remain variable across patients, which may be attributed to differences in the location of the neuroanatomical regions being stimulated. We evaluated active contact locations and regions of stimulation across a large cohort of patients with TS in an effort to guide future targeting.MethodsWe collected retrospective clinical data and imaging from 13 international sites on 123 patients. We assessed the effects of DBS over time in 110 patients who were implanted in the centromedial (CM) thalamus (n=51), globus pallidus internus (GPi) (n=47), nucleus accumbens/anterior limb of the internal capsule (n=4) or a combination of targets (n=8). Contact locations (n=70 patients) and volumes of tissue activated (n=63 patients) were coregistered to create probabilistic stimulation atlases.ResultsTics and obsessive–compulsive behaviour (OCB) significantly improved over time (p<0.01), and there were no significant differences across brain targets (p>0.05). The median time was 13 months to reach a 40% improvement in tics, and there were no significant differences across targets (p=0.84), presence of OCB (p=0.09) or age at implantation (p=0.08). Active contacts were generally clustered near the target nuclei, with some variability that may reflect differences in targeting protocols, lead models and contact configurations. There were regions within and surrounding GPi and CM thalamus that improved tics for some patients but were ineffective for others. Regions within, superior or medial to GPi were associated with a greater improvement in OCB than regions inferior to GPi.ConclusionThe results collectively indicate that DBS may improve tics and OCB, the effects may develop over several months, and stimulation locations relative to structural anatomy alone may not predict response. This study was the first to visualise and evaluate the regions of stimulation across a large cohort of patients with TS to generate new hypotheses about potential targets for improving tics and comorbidities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 272-280
Author(s):  
Sophia Schleyken ◽  
Juan Baldermann ◽  
Daniel Huys ◽  
Jeremy Franklin ◽  
Veerle Visser-Vandewalle ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip E. Mosley ◽  
François Windels ◽  
John Morris ◽  
Terry Coyne ◽  
Rodney Marsh ◽  
...  

AbstractDeep brain stimulation (DBS) is a promising treatment for severe, treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here, nine participants (four females, mean age 47.9 ± 10.7 years) were implanted with DBS electrodes bilaterally in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Following a one-month postoperative recovery phase, participants entered a three-month randomised, double-blind, sham-controlled phase before a twelve-month period of open-label stimulation incorporating a course of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The primary outcome measure was OCD symptoms as rated with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS). In the blinded phase, there was a significant benefit of active stimulation over sham (p = 0.025, mean difference 4.9 points). After the open phase, the mean reduction in YBOCS was 16.6 ± 1.9 points (χ2 (11) = 39.8, p = 3.8 × 10−5), with seven participants classified as responders. CBT resulted in an additive YBOCS reduction of 4.8 ± 3.9 points (p = 0.011). There were two serious adverse events related to the DBS device, the most severe of which was an infection during the open phase necessitating device explantation. There were no serious psychiatric adverse events related to stimulation. An analysis of the structural connectivity of each participant’s individualised stimulation field isolated right-hemispheric fibres associated with YBOCS reduction. These included subcortical tracts incorporating the amygdala, hippocampus and stria terminalis, in addition to cortical regions in the ventrolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, parahippocampal, parietal and extrastriate visual cortex. In conclusion, this study provides further evidence supporting the efficacy and tolerability of DBS in the region of the BNST for individuals with otherwise treatment-refractory OCD and identifies a connectivity fingerprint associated with clinical benefit.


Brain ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (5) ◽  
pp. 1293-1296
Author(s):  
Jens Kuhn ◽  
Juan Carlos Baldermann

This scientific commentary refers to ‘Deep brain stimulation modulates directional limbic connectivity in obsessive-compulsive disorder’, by Fridgeirsson etal. (doi:10.1093/brain/awaa100).


2013 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. e29-e31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole C.R. McLaughlin ◽  
Elizabeth R. Didie ◽  
Andre G. Machado ◽  
Suzanne N. Haber ◽  
Emad N. Eskandar ◽  
...  

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