| Literature DB >> 36092644 |
Petra Heiden1,2, Daniel Tim Weigel1, Ricardo Loução1,2, Christina Hamisch2, Enes M Gündüz1, Maximilian I Ruge1, Jens Kuhn3,4, Veerle Visser-Vandewalle1, Pablo Andrade1.
Abstract
Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is associated with diverse psychiatric conditions. Sometimes (e.g., in patients with autism spectrum disorder or acquired brain injuries), SIB is the most dominant symptom, severely restricting the psychosocial functioning and quality of life of the patients and inhibiting appropriate patient care. In severe cases, it can lead to permanent physical injuries or even death. Primary therapy consists of medical treatment and if implementable, behavioral therapy. For patients with severe SIB refractory to conventional therapy, neuromodulation can be considered as a last recourse. In scientific literature, several successful lesioning and deep brain stimulation targets have been described that can indicate a common underlying neuronal pathway. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the short- and long-term clinical outcome of patients with severe, therapy refractory SIB who underwent DBS with diverse underlying psychiatric disorders and to correlate these outcomes with the activated connectivity networks. We retrospectively analyzed 10 patients with SIB who underwent DBS surgery with diverse psychiatric conditions including autism spectrum disorder, organic personality disorder after hypoxic or traumatic brain injury or Tourette syndrome. DBS targets were chosen according to the underlying disorder, patients were either stimulated in the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, posterior hypothalamus, medial thalamus or ventrolateral thalamus. Clinical outcome was measured 6 months after surgery and at long-term follow-up after 10 or more years using the Early Rehabilitation Barthel index (ERBI) and time of restraint. Connectivity patterns were analyzed using normative connectome. Based on previous literature the orbitofrontal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, the anterior cingulate cortex, the amygdala and the hippocampus were chosen as regions of interest. This analysis showed a significant improvement in the functionality of the patients with DBS in the short- and long-term follow-up. Good clinical outcome correlated with higher connectivity to the amygdala and hippocampus. These findings may suggest a common pathway, which can be relevant when planning a surgical procedure in patients with SIB.Entities:
Keywords: aggressiveness; connectivity; deep brain stimulation; psychosurgery; self-injurious behavior
Year: 2022 PMID: 36092644 PMCID: PMC9448926 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.958247
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Front Hum Neurosci ISSN: 1662-5161 Impact factor: 3.473
Demographic table of the patients including stimulation parameters associated with the best clinical results 6 months past the surgery.
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| Patient 1 | Male | 45 | 40 | Tourette syndrome | Posterior hypothalamus | 3.5 V, 120 μs, 130 Hz C+, 1-, 2- |
| Patient 2 | Male | 24 | 6 | Tourette syndrome | Nucleus accumbens | 6.5 V, 120 μs, 130 Hz C+, 0-, 1-, 2-, 3- |
| Patient 3 | Female | 40 | 1 | Hypoxic brain injury | Nucleus fasciculosus thalami | 6.5 V, 90 μs, 130 Hz C+, 0-, 1-, 2-, 3- |
| Patient 4 | Female | 40 | 24 | Tourette syndrome | Nucleus accumbens | 4.5 V, 180 μs, 130 HZ C+, 0-, 1- |
| Patient 5 | Male | 47 | 32 | Tourette syndrome | Nucleus accumbens | 5.0 V, 150 μs, 60 Hz 1 +, 2- |
| Patient 6 | Male | 46 | 40 | Autism spectrum disorder | Nucleus accumbens | 6.0 V, 90 μs, 145 Hz C+, 1-, 2-, 3- |
| Patient 7 | Male | 25 | 22 | Tourette syndrome | Ventrolateral thalamus | 3.0 V, 120 μs, 130 Hz C+, 1-, 2- |
| Patient 8 | Female | 25 | 7 | Traumatic brain injury | Posterior hypothalamus | 2.8 V, 120 μs, 130 Hz C+, 0-, 1- |
| Patient 9 | Male | 24 | 0.5 | Hypoxic brain injury | Posterior hypothalamus | 5.5 V, 180 μs, 130 Hz C+, 1-, 2-, 3- |
| Patient 10 | Male | 13 | 10 | Autism spectrum disorder | Amygdala | 6.5 V, 90 μs, 130 Hz C+, 0-, 1-, 2-, 3- |
Stimulation parameters were symmetrical in all patients.
Summary of the clinical outcome and complications of each patient.
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| Patient 1 | −30 points | 0 points | No effect on SIB, discontinued the therapy after 7 years |
| Patient 2 | −120 points | 220 points | |
| Patient 3 | −120 points | 50 points | Discontinued follow up appointments |
| Patient 4 | −65 points | 165 points | Removal of the system after 1 month because of infection, reimplantation after 3 months. Discontinued the therapy after several years due to deterioration of health. |
| Patient 5 | 45 points | 55 points | Multiple modifications in the stimulation parameters initially, including high frequency stimulation. Removal of the system after 5 years because of chronic infection. Reimplantation after 6 years for thalamic stimulation. |
| Patient 6 | 50 points | 50 points | |
| Patient 7 | 45 points | 55 points | |
| Patient 8 | −105 points | 120 points | Removal of the system after 3 months because of infection, reimplantation after 3 years |
| Patient 9 | −135 points | 125 points | |
| Patient 10 | −110 points | 160 points | Discontinued follow up appointments |
Figure 1Comparison of the connectivity of the VTAs of non-responders, low-responders, and good-responders to the medial orbitofrontal cortex (medial OFC) (A), lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lateral OFC) (B), superior frontal gyrus (C), and the anterior cingulate cortex (anterior CC) (D) based on normative connectome.
Figure 2Comparison of the connectivity of the VTAs of non-responders, low-responders, and good-responders to the amygdala based on normative connectome.
Figure 3Comparison of the connectivity of the VTAs of non-responders, low-responders, and good-responders to the hippocampus based on normative connectome.
Figure 4Fibers activated by the VTAs and associated with a better functional outcome of the patients measured on the ERBI in sagittal view from the left (A), from the right (B), in axial view on the level of the thalami (C), and on the level of the hippocampus and the amygdala (D). Darker colors represent a stronger correlation to the clinical outcome.
Figure 5Fibers activated by the VTAs and associated with a worse functional outcome of the patients measured on the ERBI in sagittal view from the left (A), from the right (B), and in axial view on the level of the thalami (C). Darker colors represent a stronger correlation to the clinical outcome.