Explore the groundbreaking insights into how overlapping stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus and dentato-rubro-thalamic tract can revolutionize treatment outcomes for Parkinson’s disease patients undergoing deep brain stimulation.
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Overlapping stimulation of subthalamic nucleus and dentato-rubro-thalamic tract in Parkinson’s disease after deep brain stimulation.
Wiśniewski et al., Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2024
<!– DOI: 10.1007/s00701-024-06006-0 //–>
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-024-06006-0
This study explores the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, focusing on the relationship between symptom improvement and the proximity of the DBS electrode’s electric field (EF) to the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRTt). Conducted on 30 PD patients, the research utilized diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and tractography to visualize the DRTt and subthalamic nucleus (STN), the primary DBS target. The study found that patients whose EF overlapped both STN and DRTt experienced significant motor symptom improvement. This was supported by anatomical dissections on ten human brains, which confirmed variability in the DRTt’s course, aligning with MR tractography findings. The study highlights the potential of targeting the DRTt in addition to the STN in PD DBS surgery, suggesting that closer proximity or overlap of the EF with the DRTt could enhance DBS efficacy. This contributes to the literature by providing evidence for the DRTt as a valuable target in PD treatment, potentially refining DBS targeting strategies.