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Arcadi A, Aviles-Olmos I, Gonzalez-Quarante LH, Gorospe A, Jiménez-Huete A, de la Corte MM, Parras O, Martin-Bastida A, Riverol M, Villino R, Guridi J, Rodríguez-Oroz MC. Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS)-Thalamotomy for Essential Tremor: Lesion Location and Clinical Outcomes. Mov Disord 2024; 39:1015-1025. [PMID: 38616324 DOI: 10.1002/mds.29801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Factors predicting clinical outcomes after MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS)-thalamotomy in patients with essential tremor (ET) are not well known. OBJECTIVE To examine the clinical outcomes and their relationship with patients' baseline demographic and clinical features and lesion characteristics at 6-month follow-up in ET patients. METHODS A total of 127 patients were prospectively evaluated at 1 (n = 122), 3 (n = 102), and 6 months (n = 78) after MRgFUS-thalamotomy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was obtained at 6 months (n = 60). Primary outcomes included: (1) change in the Clinical Rating Scale of Tremor (CRST)-A+B score in the treated hand and (2) frequency and severity of adverse events (AEs) at 6 months. Secondary outcomes included changes in all subitems of the CRST scale in the treated hand, CRST-C, axial tremor (face, head, voice, tongue), AEs, and correlation of primary outcomes at 6 months with lesion characteristics. Statistical analysis included linear mixed, standard, and logistic regression models. RESULTS Scores for CRST-A+B, CRST-A, CRST-B in the treated hand, CRST-C, and axial tremor were improved at each evaluation (P < 0.001). Five patients had severe AEs at 1 month that became mild throughout the follow-up. Mild AEs occurred in 71%, 45%, and 34% of patients at 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. Lesion volume was associated with the reduction in the CRST-A (P = 0.003) and its overlapping with the ventralis intermedius nucleus (Vim) nucleus with the reduction in CRST-A+B (P = 0.02) and CRST-B (P = 0.008) at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS MRgFUS-thalamotomy improves hand and axial tremor in ET patients. Transient and mild AEs are frequent. Lesion volume and location are associated with tremor reduction. © 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alana Arcadi
- Neurosurgery Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Iciar Aviles-Olmos
- Neurology Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | | | - Arantza Gorospe
- Neurology Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | | | | | - Olga Parras
- Hospital Universitario Alava, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
| | | | - Mario Riverol
- Neurology Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Rafael Villino
- Neurology Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Jorge Guridi
- Neurosurgery Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Maria C Rodríguez-Oroz
- Neurology Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
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2
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Fenoy AJ, Chu ZD, Ritter RJ, Conner CR, Kralik SF. Evaluating functional connectivity differences between DBS ON/OFF states in essential tremor. Neurotherapeutics 2024; 21:e00375. [PMID: 38824101 PMCID: PMC11301224 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurot.2024.e00375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2023] [Revised: 05/05/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting the ventral intermediate (Vim) nucleus of the thalamus is an effective treatment for essential tremor (ET). We studied 15 ET patients undergoing DBS to a major input/output tract of the Vim, the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRTt), using resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI) to evaluate connectivity differences between DBS ON and OFF and elucidate significant regions most influential in impacting tremor control and/or concomitant gait ataxia. Anatomical/functional 1.5T MRIs were acquired and replicated for each DBS state. Tremor severity and gait ataxia severity were scored with DBS ON at optimal stimulation parameters and immediately upon DBS OFF. Whole brain analysis was performed using dual regression analysis followed by randomized permutation testing for multiple correction comparison. Regions of interest (ROI) analysis was also performed. All 15 patients had tremor improvement between DBS ON/OFF (p < 0.001). Whole brain analysis revealed significant connectivity changes between states in the left pre-central gyrus and left supplemental motor area. Group analysis of ROIs revealed that, with threshold p < 0.05, in DBS ON vs. OFF both tremor duration and tremor improvement were significantly correlated to changes in connectivity. A sub-group analysis of patients with greater ataxia had significantly decreased functional connectivity between multiple ROIs in the cortex and cerebellum when DBS was ON compared to OFF. Stimulation of the DRTt and concordant improvement of tremor resulted in connectivity changes seen in multiple regions outside the motor network; when combined with both structural and electrophysiologic connectivity, this may help to serve as a biomarker to improve DBS targeting and possibly predict outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert J Fenoy
- Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Northwell Health, Manhasset, NY, USA; Departments of Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, NY, USA.
| | - Zili D Chu
- Edward B. Singleton Department of Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Robert J Ritter
- Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern School of Medicine, UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Christopher R Conner
- Division of Neurosurgery, Dept. of Surgery, University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, USA
| | - Stephen F Kralik
- Edward B. Singleton Department of Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
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Tsolaki E, Kashanian A, Chiu K, Bari A, Pouratian N. Connectivity-based segmentation of the thalamic motor region for deep brain stimulation in essential tremor: A comparison of deterministic and probabilistic tractography. Neuroimage Clin 2024; 41:103587. [PMID: 38422832 PMCID: PMC10944185 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2024.103587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Deep brain stimulation (DBS) studies have shown that stimulation of the motor segment of the thalamus based on probabilistic tractography is predictive of improvement in essential tremor (ET). However, probabilistic methods are computationally demanding, requiring the need for alternative tractography methods for use in the clinical setting. The purpose of this study was to compare probabilistic vs deterministic tractography methods for connectivity-based targeting in patients with ET. METHODS Probabilistic and deterministic tractography methods were retrospectively applied to diffusion-weighted data sets in 36 patients with refractory ET. The thalamus and precentral gyrus were selected as regions of interest and fiber tracking was performed between these regions to produce connectivity-based thalamic segmentations, per prior methods. The resultant deterministic target maps were compared with those of thresholded probabilistic maps. The center of gravity (CG) of each connectivity map was determined and the differences in spatial distribution between the tractography methods were characterized. Furthermore, the intersection between the connectivity maps and CGs with the therapeutic volume of tissue activated (VTA) was calculated. A mixed linear model was then used to assess clinical improvement in tremor with volume of overlap. RESULTS Both tractography methods delineated the region of the thalamus with connectivity to the precentral gyrus to be within the posterolateral aspect of the thalamus. The average CG of deterministic maps was more medial-posterior in both the left (3.7 ± 1.3 mm3) and the right (3.5 ± 2.2 mm3) hemispheres when compared to 30 %-thresholded probabilistic maps. Mixed linear model showed that the volume of overlap between CGs of deterministic and probabilistic targeting maps and therapeutic VTAs were significant predictors of clinical improvement. CONCLUSIONS Deterministic tractography can reconstruct DBS thalamic target maps in approximately 5 min comparable to those produced by probabilistic methods that require > 12 h to generate. Despite differences in CG between the methods, both deterministic-based and probabilistic targeting were predictive of clinical improvement in ET.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evangelia Tsolaki
- Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Alon Kashanian
- Department of Neurosurgery, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, NY, USA
| | - Kevin Chiu
- Brainlab, Inc., 5 Westbrook Corporate Center, Suite 1000, Westchester, IL 60154, USA
| | - Ausaf Bari
- Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nader Pouratian
- Department of Neurological Surgery, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
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Conner CR, Forseth KJ, Lozano AM, Ritter R, Fenoy AJ. Thalamo-cortical evoked potentials during stimulation of the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract demonstrate synaptic filtering. Neurotherapeutics 2024; 21:e00295. [PMID: 38237402 PMCID: PMC10903089 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurot.2023.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Essential tremor DBS targeting the ventral intermediate nucleus (Vim) of the thalamus and its input, the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRTt), has proven to be an effective treatment strategy. We examined thalamo-cortical evoked potentials (TCEPs) and cortical dynamics during stimulation of the DRTt. We recorded TCEPs in primary motor cortex during clinical and supra-clinical stimulation of the DRTt in ten essential tremor patients. Stimulation was varied over pulse amplitude (2-10 mA) and pulse width (30-250 μs) to allow for strength-duration testing. Testing at clinical levels (3 mA, 60 μs) for stimulation frequencies of 1-160 Hz was performed and phase amplitude coupling (PAC) of beta phase and gamma power was calculated. Primary motor cortex TCEPs displayed two responses: early and all-or-none (<20 ms) or delayed and charge-dependent (>50 ms). Strength-duration curve approximation indicates that the chronaxie of the neural elements related to the TCEPs is <200 μs. At the range of clinical stimulation (amplitude 2-5 mA, pulse width 30-60 μs), TCEPs were not noted over primary motor cortex. Decreased pathophysiological phase-amplitude coupling was seen above 70 Hz stimulation without changes in power spectra and below the threshold of TCEPs. Our findings demonstrate that DRTt stimulation within normal clinical bounds does not excite fibers directly connected with primary motor cortex but that supra-clinical stimulation can excite a direct axonal tract. Both clinical efficacy and phase-amplitude coupling were frequency-dependent, favoring a synaptic filtering model as a possible mechanism of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R Conner
- Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, USA.
| | - Kiefer J Forseth
- Division of Neurosurgery, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Andres M Lozano
- Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Robert Ritter
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Albert J Fenoy
- Department of Neurosurgery, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA.
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Holcomb JM, Chopra R, Feltrin FS, Elkurd M, El-Nazer R, McKenzie L, O’Suilleabhain P, Maldjian JA, Dauer W, Shah BR. Improving tremor response to focused ultrasound thalamotomy. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad165. [PMID: 37533544 PMCID: PMC10390385 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound thalamotomy is an incisionless therapy for essential tremor. To reduce adverse effects, the field has migrated to treating at 2 mm above the anterior commissure-posterior commissure plane. We perform MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound with an advanced imaging targeting technique, four-tract tractography. Four-tract tractography uses diffusion tensor imaging to identify the critical white matter targets for tremor control, the decussating and non-decussating dentatorubrothalamic tracts, while the corticospinal tract and medial lemniscus are identified to be avoided. In some patients, four-tract tractography identified a risk of damaging the medial lemniscus or corticospinal tract if treated at 2 mm superior to the anterior commissure-posterior commissure plane. In these patients, we chose to target 1.2-1.5 mm superior to the anterior commissure-posterior commissure plane. In these patients, post-operative imaging revealed that the focused ultrasound lesion extended into the posterior subthalamic area. This study sought to determine if patients with focused ultrasound lesions that extend into the posterior subthalamic area have a differnce in tremor improvement than those without. Twenty essential tremor patients underwent MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound and were retrospectively classified into two groups. Group 1 included patients with an extension of the thalamic-focused ultrasound lesion into the posterior subthalamic area. Group 2 included patients without extension of the thalamic-focused ultrasound lesion into the posterior subthalamic area. For each patient, the percent change in postural tremor, kinetic tremor and Archimedes spiral scores were calculated between baseline and a 3-month follow-up. Two-tailed Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare the improvement in tremor scores, the total number of sonications, thermal dose to achieve initial tremor response, and skull density ratio between groups. Group 1 had significantly greater postural, kinetic, and Archimedes spiral score percent improvement than Group 2 (P values: 5.41 × 10-5, 4.87 × 10-4, and 5.41 × 10-5, respectively). Group 1 also required significantly fewer total sonications to control the tremor and a significantly lower thermal dose to achieve tremor response (P values: 6.60 × 10-4 and 1.08 × 10-5, respectively). No significant group differences in skull density ratio were observed (P = 1.0). We do not advocate directly targeting the posterior subthalamic area with MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound because the shape of the focused ultrasound lesion can result in a high risk of adverse effects. However, when focused ultrasound lesions naturally extend from the thalamus into the posterior subthalamic area, they provide greater tremor control than those that only involve the thalamus.
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Affiliation(s)
- James M Holcomb
- Focused Ultrasound Lab and Program, Department of Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Rajiv Chopra
- Focused Ultrasound Lab and Program, Department of Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Fabricio S Feltrin
- Focused Ultrasound Lab and Program, Department of Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Mazen Elkurd
- Department of Neurology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Rasheda El-Nazer
- Department of Neurology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Lauren McKenzie
- Focused Ultrasound Lab and Program, Department of Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | | | - Joseph A Maldjian
- Focused Ultrasound Lab and Program, Department of Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - William Dauer
- Department of Neurology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
- O’Donnell Brain Institute, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Bhavya R Shah
- Correspondence to: Bhavya R. Shah Department of Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, 1801 Inwood Rd Dallas, TX 75235, USA E-mail:
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Feltrin FS, Chopra R, Pouratian N, Elkurd M, El-Nazer R, Lanford L, Dauer W, Shah BR. Focused ultrasound using a novel targeting method four-tract tractography for magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound targeting. Brain Commun 2022; 4:fcac273. [PMID: 36751499 PMCID: PMC9897190 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcac273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound thalamotomy is a Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for essential tremor. The target, the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus, is not visualized on standard, anatomic MRI sequences. Several recent reports have used diffusion tensor imaging to target the dentato-rubro-thalamic-tract. There is considerable variability in fibre tracking algorithms and what fibres are tracked. Targeting discrete white matter tracts with magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound is an emerging precision medicine technique that has the promise to improve patient outcomes and reduce treatment times. We provide a technical overview and clinical benefits of our novel, easily implemented advanced tractography method: four-tract tractography. Our method is novel because it targets both the decussating and non-decussating dentato-rubro-thalamic-tracts while avoiding the medial lemniscus and corticospinal tracts. Our method utilizes Food and Drug Administration-approved software and is easily implementable into existing workflows. Initial experience using this approach suggests that it improves patient outcomes by reducing the incidence of adverse effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabricio S Feltrin
- Focused Ultrasound Lab and Program, Department of Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Rajiv Chopra
- Focused Ultrasound Lab and Program, Department of Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Nader Pouratian
- Department of Neurological Surgery, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA,O’Donnell Brain Institute, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Mazen Elkurd
- O’Donnell Brain Institute, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA,Department of Neurology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Rasheda El-Nazer
- O’Donnell Brain Institute, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA,Department of Neurology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Lauren Lanford
- Focused Ultrasound Lab and Program, Department of Radiology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - William Dauer
- O’Donnell Brain Institute, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA,Department of Neurology, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
| | - Bhavya R Shah
- Correspondence to: Bhavya R. Shah UTSW Medical Center 1801 Inwood Rd, Dallas, TX 75235, USA E-mail:
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Muller J, Alizadeh M, Matias CM, Thalheimer S, Romo V, Martello J, Liang TW, Mohamed FB, Wu C. Use of probabilistic tractography to provide reliable distinction of the motor and sensory thalamus for prospective targeting during asleep deep brain stimulation. J Neurosurg 2022; 136:1371-1380. [PMID: 34624856 DOI: 10.3171/2021.5.jns21552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Accurate electrode placement is key to effective deep brain stimulation (DBS). The ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus is an established surgical target for the treatment of essential tremor (ET). Retrospective tractography-based analysis of electrode placement has associated successful outcomes with modulation of motor input to VIM, but no study has yet evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of prospective presurgical tractography-based targeting alone. Therefore, the authors sought to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of probabilistic tractography-based VIM targeting in ET patients and to perform a systematic comparison of probabilistic and deterministic tractography. METHODS Fourteen patients with ET underwent preoperative diffusion imaging. Probabilistic tractography was applied for preoperative targeting, and deterministic tractography was performed as a comparison between methods. Tractography was performed using the motor and sensory areas as initiation seeds, the ipsilateral thalamus as an inclusion mask, and the contralateral dentate nucleus as a termination mask. Tract-density maps consisted of voxels with 10% or less of the maximum intensity and were superimposed onto anatomical images for presurgical planning. Target planning was based on probabilistic tract-density images and indirect target coordinates. Patients underwent robotic image-guided, image-verified implantation of directional DBS systems. Postoperative tremor scores with and without DBS were recorded. The center of gravity and Dice similarity coefficients were calculated and compared between tracking methods. RESULTS Prospective probabilistic targeting of VIM was successful in all 14 patients. All patients experienced significant tremor reduction. Formal postoperative tremor scores were available for 9 patients, who demonstrated a mean 68.0% tremor reduction. Large differences between tracking methods were observed across patients. Probabilistic tractography-identified VIM fibers were more anterior, lateral, and superior than deterministic tractography-identified fibers, whereas probabilistic tractography-identified ventralis caudalis fibers were more posterior, lateral, and superior than deterministic tractography-identified fibers. Deterministic methods were unable to clearly distinguish between motor and sensory fibers in the majority of patients, but probabilistic methods produced distinct separation. CONCLUSIONS Probabilistic tractography-based VIM targeting is safe and effective for the treatment of ET. Probabilistic tractography is more precise than deterministic tractography for the delineation of VIM and the ventralis caudalis nucleus of the thalamus. Deterministic algorithms tended to underestimate separation between motor and sensory fibers, which may have been due to its limitations with crossing fibers. Larger studies across multiple centers are necessary to further validate this method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Muller
- 1Department of Neurological Surgery, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 2Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Mahdi Alizadeh
- 1Department of Neurological Surgery, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 2Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Caio M Matias
- 1Department of Neurological Surgery, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Sara Thalheimer
- 1Department of Neurological Surgery, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Victor Romo
- 3Department of Anesthesia, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Justin Martello
- 4Department of Neurology, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware; and
| | - Tsao-Wei Liang
- 5Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Feroze B Mohamed
- 2Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Chengyuan Wu
- 1Department of Neurological Surgery, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 2Jefferson Integrated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Yang AI, Parker D, Vijayakumari AA, Ramayya AG, Donley-Fletcher MP, Aunapu D, Wolf RL, Baltuch GH, Verma R. Tractography-Based Surgical Targeting for Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation: A Comparison of Probabilistic vs Deterministic Fiber Tracking of the Dentato-Rubro-Thalamic Tract. Neurosurgery 2022; 90:419-425. [PMID: 35044356 PMCID: PMC9514748 DOI: 10.1227/neu.0000000000001840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The ventral intermediate (VIM) thalamic nucleus is the main target for the surgical treatment of refractory tremor. Initial targeting traditionally relies on atlas-based stereotactic targeting formulas, which only minimally account for individual anatomy. Alternative approaches have been proposed, including direct targeting of the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRTT), which, in clinical settings, is generally reconstructed with deterministic tracking. Whether more advanced probabilistic techniques are feasible on clinical-grade magnetic resonance acquisitions and lead to enhanced reconstructions is poorly understood. OBJECTIVE To compare DRTT reconstructed with deterministic vs probabilistic tracking. METHODS This is a retrospective study of 19 patients with essential tremor who underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) with intraoperative neurophysiology and stimulation testing. We assessed the proximity of the DRTT to the DBS lead and to the active contact chosen based on clinical response. RESULTS In the commissural plane, the deterministic DRTT was anterior (P < 10-4) and lateral (P < 10-4) to the DBS lead. By contrast, although the probabilistic DRTT was also anterior to the lead (P < 10-4), there was no difference in the mediolateral dimension (P = .5). Moreover, the 3-dimensional Euclidean distance from the active contact to the probabilistic DRTT was smaller vs the distance to the deterministic DRTT (3.32 ± 1.70 mm vs 5.01 ± 2.12 mm; P < 10-4). CONCLUSION DRTT reconstructed with probabilistic fiber tracking was superior in spatial proximity to the physiology-guided DBS lead and to the empirically chosen active contact. These data inform strategies for surgical targeting of the VIM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew I. Yang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
| | - Drew Parker
- DiCIPHR (Diffusion and Connectomics in Precision Healthcare Research) Lab, Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
| | - Anupa A. Vijayakumari
- DiCIPHR (Diffusion and Connectomics in Precision Healthcare Research) Lab, Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
| | - Ashwin G. Ramayya
- Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
| | | | - Darien Aunapu
- DiCIPHR (Diffusion and Connectomics in Precision Healthcare Research) Lab, Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
| | - Ronald L. Wolf
- Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Gordon H. Baltuch
- Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
| | - Ragini Verma
- Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
- DiCIPHR (Diffusion and Connectomics in Precision Healthcare Research) Lab, Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
- Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Lipp I, Mole JP, Subramanian L, Linden DEJ, Metzler-Baddeley C. Investigating the Anatomy and Microstructure of the Dentato-rubro-thalamic and Subthalamo-ponto-cerebellar Tracts in Parkinson's Disease. Front Neurol 2022; 13:793693. [PMID: 35401393 PMCID: PMC8987292 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.793693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Cerebellar-thalamic connections play a central role in deep brain stimulation-based treatment of tremor syndromes. Here, we used diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tractography to delineate the main cerebellar peduncles as well as two main white matter tracts that connect the cerebellum with the thalamus, the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRTT) and the subthalamo-ponto-cerebellar tract (SPCT). We first developed a reconstruction protocol in young healthy adults with high-resolution diffusion imaging data and then demonstrate feasibility of transferring this protocol to clinical studies using standard diffusion MRI data from a cohort of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and their matched healthy controls. The tracts obtained closely corresponded to the previously described anatomical pathways and features of the DRTT and the SPCT. Second, we investigated the microstructure of these tracts with fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), and hindrance modulated orientational anisotropy (HMOA) in patients with PD and healthy controls. By reducing dimensionality of both the microstructural metrics and the investigated cerebellar and cerebellar-thalamic tracts using principal component analyses, we found global differences between patients with PD and controls, suggestive of higher fractional anisotropy, lower radial diffusivity, and higher hindrance modulated orientational anisotropy in patients. However, separate analyses for each of the tracts did not yield any significant differences. Our findings contribute to the characterization of the distinct anatomical connections between the cerebellum and the diencephalon. Microstructural differences between patients and controls in the cerebellar pathways suggest involvement of these structures in PD, complementing previous functional and diffusion imaging studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilona Lipp
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences (DPMCN), School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jilu Princy Mole
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences (DPMCN), School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Leena Subramanian
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences (DPMCN), School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - David E. J. Linden
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences (DPMCN), School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Claudia Metzler-Baddeley
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
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10
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Saranathan M, Iglehart C, Monti M, Tourdias T, Rutt B. In vivo high-resolution structural MRI-based atlas of human thalamic nuclei. Sci Data 2021; 8:275. [PMID: 34711852 PMCID: PMC8553748 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-021-01062-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Thalamic nuclei play critical roles in regulation of neurological functions like sleep and wakefulness. They are increasingly implicated in neurodegenerative and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis and essential tremor. However, segmentation of thalamic nuclei is difficult due to their poor visibility in conventional MRI scans. Sophisticated methods have been proposed which require specialized MRI acquisitions and complex post processing. There are few high spatial resolution (1 mm3 or higher) in vivo MRI thalamic atlases available currently. The goal of this work is the development of an in vivo MRI-based structural thalamic atlas at 0.7 × 0.7 × 0.5 mm resolution based on manual segmentation of 9 healthy subjects using the Morel atlas as a guide. Using data analysis from healthy subjects as well as patients with multiple-sclerosis and essential tremor and at 3T and 7T MRI, we demonstrate the utility of this atlas to provide fast and accurate segmentation of thalamic nuclei when only conventional T1 weighted images are available.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Charles Iglehart
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Martin Monti
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Thomas Tourdias
- Service de Neuroimagerie Diagnostique et Thérapeutique, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Brian Rutt
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
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11
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Coenen VA, Sajonz BE, Reinacher PC, Kaller CP, Urbach H, Reisert M. A detailed analysis of anatomical plausibility of crossed and uncrossed streamline rendition of the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRT(T)) in a commercial stereotactic planning system. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2021; 163:2809-2824. [PMID: 34181083 PMCID: PMC8437929 DOI: 10.1007/s00701-021-04890-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Background An increasing number of neurosurgeons use display of the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRT) based on diffusion weighted imaging (dMRI) as basis for their routine planning of stimulation or lesioning approaches in stereotactic tremor surgery. An evaluation of the anatomical validity of the display of the DRT with respect to modern stereotactic planning systems and across different tracking environments has not been performed. Methods Distinct dMRI and anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of high and low quality from 9 subjects were used. Six subjects had repeated MRI scans and therefore entered the analysis twice. Standardized DICOM structure templates for volume of interest definition were applied in native space for all investigations. For tracking BrainLab Elements (BrainLab, Munich, Germany), two tensor deterministic tracking (FT2), MRtrix IFOD2 (https://www.mrtrix.org), and a global tracking (GT) approach were used to compare the display of the uncrossed (DRTu) and crossed (DRTx) fiber structure after transformation into MNI space. The resulting streamlines were investigated for congruence, reproducibility, anatomical validity, and penetration of anatomical way point structures. Results In general, the DRTu can be depicted with good quality (as judged by waypoints). FT2 (surgical) and GT (neuroscientific) show high congruence. While GT shows partly reproducible results for DRTx, the crossed pathway cannot be reliably reconstructed with the other (iFOD2 and FT2) algorithms. Conclusion Since a direct anatomical comparison is difficult in the individual subjects, we chose a comparison with two research tracking environments as the best possible “ground truth.” FT2 is useful especially because of its manual editing possibilities of cutting erroneous fibers on the single subject level. An uncertainty of 2 mm as mean displacement of DRTu is expectable and should be respected when using this approach for surgical planning. Tractographic renditions of the DRTx on the single subject level seem to be still illusive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Volker A Coenen
- Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Medical Center of Freiburg University, Breisacher Strasse 64, 79106, Freiburg i.Br, Germany.
- Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany.
- Center for Deep Brain Stimulation, Medical Center of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany.
| | - Bastian E Sajonz
- Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Medical Center of Freiburg University, Breisacher Strasse 64, 79106, Freiburg i.Br, Germany
- Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Peter C Reinacher
- Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Medical Center of Freiburg University, Breisacher Strasse 64, 79106, Freiburg i.Br, Germany
- Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
- Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, Aachen, Germany
| | - Christoph P Kaller
- Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
- Department of Neuroradiology, Freiburg University Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Horst Urbach
- Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
- Department of Neuroradiology, Freiburg University Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany
| | - M Reisert
- Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Medical Center of Freiburg University, Breisacher Strasse 64, 79106, Freiburg i.Br, Germany
- Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
- Department of Radiology - Medical Physics, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
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12
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Boelens Keun JT, van Heese EM, Laansma MA, Weeland CJ, de Joode NT, van den Heuvel OA, Gool JK, Kasprzak S, Bright JK, Vriend C, van der Werf YD. Structural assessment of thalamus morphology in brain disorders: A review and recommendation of thalamic nucleus segmentation and shape analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 131:466-478. [PMID: 34587501 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
The thalamus is a central brain structure crucially involved in cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions and is often reported to be involved in the pathophysiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The functional subdivision of the thalamus warrants morphological investigation on the level of individual subnuclei. In addition to volumetric measures, the investigation of other morphological features may give additional insights into thalamic morphology. For instance, shape features offer a higher spatial resolution by revealing small, regional differences that are left undetected in volumetric analyses. In this review, we discuss the benefits and limitations of recent advances in neuroimaging techniques to investigate thalamic morphology in vivo, leading to our proposed methodology. This methodology consists of available pipelines for volume and shape analysis, focussing on the morphological features of volume, thickness, and surface area. We demonstrate this combined approach in a Parkinson's disease cohort to illustrate their complementarity. Considering our findings, we recommend a combined methodology as it allows for more sensitive investigation of thalamic morphology in clinical populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jikke T Boelens Keun
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Eva M van Heese
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Max A Laansma
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Cees J Weeland
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Niels T de Joode
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Odile A van den Heuvel
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jari K Gool
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; SEIN, Heemstede, the Netherlands; Department of Neurology, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Selina Kasprzak
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Joanna K Bright
- Social Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Chris Vriend
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ysbrand D van der Werf
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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Morrison MA, Lee AT, Martin AJ, Dietiker C, Brown EG, Wang DD. DBS targeting for essential tremor using intersectional dentato-rubro-thalamic tractography and direct proton density visualization of the VIM: technical note on 2 cases. J Neurosurg 2021; 135:806-814. [PMID: 33450737 DOI: 10.3171/2020.8.jns201378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Direct visualization of the ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus on standard MRI sequences remains elusive. Therefore, deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for essential tremor (ET) indirectly targets the VIM using atlas-derived consensus coordinates and requires awake intraoperative testing to confirm clinical benefits. The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of proton density (PD)-weighted MRI and tractography of the intersecting dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRTT) for direct "intersectional" targeting of the VIM in ET. METHODS DBS targets were selected by identifying the VIM on PD-weighted images relative to the DRTT in 2 patients with ET. Tremor reduction was confirmed with intraoperative clinical testing. Intended target coordinates based on the direct intersectional targeting technique were compared with consensus coordinates obtained with indirect targeting. Pre- and postoperative tremor scores were assessed using the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin tremor rating scale (TRS). RESULTS Planned DBS coordinates based on direct versus indirect targeting of the VIM differed in both the anteroposterior (range 0 to 2.3) and lateral (range -0.7 to 1) directions. For 1 patient, indirect targeting-without PD-weighted visualization of the VIM and DRTT-would have likely resulted in suboptimal electrode placement within the VIM. At the 3-month follow-up, both patients demonstrated significant improvement in tremor symptoms subjectively and according to the TRS (case 1: 68%, case 2: 72%). CONCLUSIONS Direct intersectional targeting of the VIM using PD-weighted imaging and DRTT tractography is a feasible method for DBS placement in patients with ET. These advanced targeting techniques can supplement awake intraoperative testing or be used independently in asleep cases to improve surgical efficiency and confidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie A Morrison
- 2Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco; and
| | - Anthony T Lee
- 1Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco
| | - Alastair J Martin
- 2Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco; and
| | - Cameron Dietiker
- 3Department of Neurology, Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, California
| | - Ethan G Brown
- 3Department of Neurology, Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, California
| | - Doris D Wang
- 1Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco
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Ferreira F, Akram H, Ashburner J, Zrinzo L, Zhang H, Lambert C. Ventralis intermedius nucleus anatomical variability assessment by MRI structural connectivity. Neuroimage 2021; 238:118231. [PMID: 34089871 PMCID: PMC8960999 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The ventralis intermedius nucleus (Vim) is centrally placed in the dentato-thalamo-cortical pathway (DTCp) and is a key surgical target in the treatment of severe medically refractory tremor. It is not visible on conventional MRI sequences; consequently, stereotactic targeting currently relies on atlas-based coordinates. This fails to capture individual anatomical variability, which may lead to poor long-term clinical efficacy. Probabilistic tractography, combined with known anatomical connectivity, enables localisation of thalamic nuclei at an individual subject level. There are, however, a number of confounds associated with this technique that may influence results. Here we focused on an established method, using probabilistic tractography to reconstruct the DTCp, to identify the connectivity-defined Vim (cd-Vim) in vivo. Using 100 healthy individuals from the Human Connectome Project, our aim was to quantify cd-Vim variability across this population, measure the discrepancy with atlas-defined Vim (ad-Vim), and assess the influence of potential methodological confounds. We found no significant effect of any of the confounds. The mean cd-Vim coordinate was located within 1.88 mm (left) and 2.12 mm (right) of the average midpoint and 3.98 mm (left) and 5.41 mm (right) from the ad-Vim coordinates. cd-Vim location was more variable on the right, which reflects hemispheric asymmetries in the probabilistic DTC reconstructed. The method was reproducible, with no significant cd-Vim location differences in a separate test-retest cohort. The superior cerebellar peduncle was identified as a potential source of artificial variance. This work demonstrates significant individual anatomical variability of the cd-Vim that atlas-based coordinate targeting fails to capture. This variability was not related to any methodological confound tested. Lateralisation of cerebellar functions, such as speech, may contribute to the observed asymmetry. Tractography-based methods seem sensitive to individual anatomical variability that is missed by conventional neurosurgical targeting; these findings may form the basis for translational tools to improve efficacy and reduce side-effects of thalamic surgery for tremor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisca Ferreira
- EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent, Integrated Imaging in Healthcare (i4health), University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom; Functional Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Clinical and Motor Neurosciences, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, WC1N 3BG London, United Kingdom; Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom.
| | - Harith Akram
- Functional Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Clinical and Motor Neurosciences, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, WC1N 3BG London, United Kingdom
| | - John Ashburner
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
| | - Ludvic Zrinzo
- Functional Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Clinical and Motor Neurosciences, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, WC1N 3BG London, United Kingdom
| | - Hui Zhang
- EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent, Integrated Imaging in Healthcare (i4health), University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom; Department of Computer Science and Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Christian Lambert
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
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15
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Bertino S, Basile GA, Bramanti A, Ciurleo R, Tisano A, Anastasi GP, Milardi D, Cacciola A. Ventral intermediate nucleus structural connectivity-derived segmentation: anatomical reliability and variability. Neuroimage 2021; 243:118519. [PMID: 34461233 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2021] [Revised: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The Ventral intermediate nucleus (Vim) of thalamus is the most targeted structure for the treatment of drug-refractory tremors. Since methodological differences across existing studies are remarkable and no gold-standard pipeline is available, in this study, we tested different parcellation pipelines for tractography-derived putative Vim identification. Thalamic parcellation was performed on a high quality, multi-shell dataset and a downsampled, clinical-like dataset using two different diffusion signal modeling techniques and two different voxel classification criteria, thus implementing a total of four parcellation pipelines. The most reliable pipeline in terms of inter-subject variability has been picked and parcels putatively corresponding to motor thalamic nuclei have been selected by calculating similarity with a histology-based mask of Vim. Then, spatial relations with optimal stimulation points for the treatment of essential tremor have been quantified. Finally, effect of data quality and parcellation pipelines on a volumetric index of connectivity clusters has been assessed. We found that the pipeline characterized by higher-order signal modeling and threshold-based voxel classification criteria was the most reliable in terms of inter-subject variability regardless data quality. The maps putatively corresponding to Vim were those derived by precentral and dentate nucleus-thalamic connectivity. However, tractography-derived functional targets showed remarkable differences in shape and sizes when compared to a ground truth model based on histochemical staining on seriate sections of human brain. Thalamic voxels connected to contralateral dentate nucleus resulted to be the closest to literature-derived stimulation points for essential tremor but at the same time showing the most remarkable inter-subject variability. Finally, the volume of connectivity parcels resulted to be significantly influenced by data quality and parcellation pipelines. Hence, caution is warranted when performing thalamic connectivity-based segmentation for stereotactic targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salvatore Bertino
- Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Gianpaolo Antonio Basile
- Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | | | | | - Adriana Tisano
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Pio Anastasi
- Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Demetrio Milardi
- Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Alberto Cacciola
- Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
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16
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Coenen VA, Reisert M. DTI for brain targeting: Diffusion weighted imaging fiber tractography-Assisted deep brain stimulation. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2021; 159:47-67. [PMID: 34446250 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2021.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Fiber tractography assisted Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has been performed by different groups for more than 10 years to now. Groups around the world have adapted initial approaches to currently embrace the fiber tractography technology mainly for treating tremor (DBS and lesions), psychiatric indications (OCD and major depression) and pain (DBS). Despite the advantages of directly visualizing the target structure, the technology is demanding and is vulnerable to inaccuracies especially since it is performed on individual level. In this contribution, we will focus on tremor and psychiatric indications, and will show future applications of sophisticated tractography applications for subthalamic nucleus (STN) DBS surgery and stimulation steering as an example.
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Affiliation(s)
- Volker A Coenen
- Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Medical Center of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany; Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany; Center for Deep Brain Stimulation, Medical Center of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany.
| | - Marco Reisert
- Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Medical Center of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany; Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany; Department of Radiology-Medical Physics, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
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17
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Segar DJ, Tata N, Harary M, Hayes MT, Cosgrove GR. Asleep deep brain stimulation with intraoperative magnetic resonance guidance: a single-institution experience. J Neurosurg 2021; 136:699-708. [PMID: 34359029 DOI: 10.3171/2020.12.jns202572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is traditionally performed on an awake patient with intraoperative recordings and test stimulation. DBS performed under general anesthesia with intraoperative MRI (iMRI) has demonstrated high target accuracy, reduced operative time, direct confirmation of target placement, and the ability to place electrodes without cessation of medications. The authors describe their initial experience with using iMRI to perform asleep DBS and discuss the procedural and radiological outcomes of this procedure. METHODS All DBS electrodes were implanted under general anesthesia by a single surgeon by using a neuronavigation system with 3-T iMRI guidance. Clinical outcomes, operative duration, complications, and accuracy were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS In total, 103 patients treated from 2015 to 2019 were included, and all but 1 patient underwent bilateral implantation. Indications included Parkinson's disease (PD) (65% of patients), essential tremor (ET) (29%), dystonia (5%), and refractory epilepsy (1%). Targets included the globus pallidus pars internus (12.62% of patients), subthalamic nucleus (56.31%), ventral intermedius nucleus of the thalamus (30%), and anterior nucleus of the thalamus (1%). Technically accurate lead placement (radial error ≤ 1 mm) was obtained for 98% of leads, with a mean (95% CI) radial error of 0.50 (0.46-0.54) mm; all leads were placed with a single pass. Predicted radial error was an excellent predictor of real radial error, underestimating real error by only a mean (95% CI) of 0.16 (0.12-0.20) mm. Accuracy remained high irrespective of surgeon experience, but procedure time decreased significantly with increasing institutional and surgeon experience (p = 0.007), with a mean procedure duration of 3.65 hours. Complications included 1 case of intracranial hemorrhage (asymptomatic) and 1 case of venous infarction (symptomatic), and 2 patients had infection at the internal pulse generator site. The mean ± SD voltage was 2.92 ± 0.83 V bilaterally at 1-year follow-up. Analysis of long-term clinical efficacy demonstrated consistent postoperative improvement in clinical symptoms, as well as decreased drug doses across all indications and follow-up time points, including mean decrease in levodopa-equivalent daily dose by 53.57% (p < 0.0001) in PD patients and mean decrease in primidone dose by 61.33% (p < 0.032) in ET patients at 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS A total of 205 leads were placed in 103 patients by a single surgeon under iMRI guidance with few operative complications. Operative time trended downward with increasing institutional experience, and technical accuracy of radiographic lead placement was consistently high. Asleep DBS implantation with iMRI appears to be a safe and effective alternative to standard awake procedures.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nalini Tata
- Departments of1Neurosurgery and.,4Department of Neurosurgery, UCLA, Los Angeles, California
| | - Maya Harary
- Departments of1Neurosurgery and.,3Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois; and
| | - Michael T Hayes
- 2Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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Bruno F, Catalucci A, Varrassi M, Arrigoni F, Sucapane P, Cerone D, Pistoia F, Torlone S, Tommasino E, De Santis L, Barile A, Ricci A, Marini C, Splendiani A, Masciocchi C. Comparative evaluation of tractography-based direct targeting and atlas-based indirect targeting of the ventral intermediate (Vim) nucleus in MRgFUS thalamotomy. Sci Rep 2021; 11:13538. [PMID: 34188190 PMCID: PMC8241849 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93058-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
To analyze and compare direct and indirect targeting of the Vim for MRgFUS thalamotomy. We retrospectively evaluated 21 patients who underwent unilateral MRgFUS Vim ablation and required targeting repositioning during the procedures. For each patient, in the three spatial coordinates, we recorded: (i) indirect coordinates; (ii) the coordinates where we clinically observed tremor reduction during the verification stage sonications; (iii) direct coordinates, measured on the dentatorubrothalamic tract (DRTT) at the after postprocessing of DTI data. The agreement between direct and indirect coordinates compared to clinically effective coordinates was evaluated through the Bland–Altman test and intraclass correlation coefficient. The median absolute percentage error was also calculated. Compared to indirect targeting, direct targeting showed inferior error values on the RL and AP coordinates (0.019 vs. 0.079 and 0.207 vs. 0.221, respectively) and higher error values on the SI coordinates (0.263 vs. 0.021). The agreement between measurements was higher for tractography along the AP and SI planes and lower along the RL planes. Indirect atlas-based targeting represents a valid approach for MRgFUS thalamotomy. The direct tractography approach is a valuable aid in assessing the possible deviation of the error in cases where no immediate clinical response is achieved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Bruno
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy. .,Italian Society of Medical and Interventional Radiology, SIRM Foundation, Milan, Italy.
| | - Alessia Catalucci
- Neuroradiology and Interventional Radiology, San Salvatore Hospital, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Marco Varrassi
- Neuroradiology and Interventional Radiology, San Salvatore Hospital, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Francesco Arrigoni
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
| | | | | | - Francesca Pistoia
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Silvia Torlone
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Emanuele Tommasino
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Luca De Santis
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Antonio Barile
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
| | | | - Carmine Marini
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Alessandra Splendiani
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Carlo Masciocchi
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 1, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
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19
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Tsuboi T, Wong JK, Eisinger RS, Okromelidze L, Burns MR, Ramirez-Zamora A, Almeida L, Wagle Shukla A, Foote KD, Okun MS, Grewal SS, Middlebrooks EH. Comparative connectivity correlates of dystonic and essential tremor deep brain stimulation. Brain 2021; 144:1774-1786. [PMID: 33889943 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awab074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The pathophysiology of dystonic tremor and essential tremor remains partially understood. In patients with medication-refractory dystonic tremor or essential tremor, deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting the thalamus or posterior subthalamic area has evolved into a promising treatment option. However, the optimal DBS targets for these disorders remains unknown. This retrospective study explored the optimal targets for DBS in essential tremor and dystonic tremor using a combination of volumes of tissue activated estimation and functional and structural connectivity analyses. We included 20 patients with dystonic tremor who underwent unilateral thalamic DBS, along with a matched cohort of 20 patients with essential tremor DBS. Tremor severity was assessed preoperatively and approximately 6 months after DBS implantation using the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale. The tremor-suppressing effects of DBS were estimated using the percentage improvement in the unilateral tremor-rating scale score contralateral to the side of implantation. The optimal stimulation region, based on the cluster centre of gravity for peak contralateral motor score improvement, for essential tremor was located in the ventral intermediate nucleus region and for dystonic tremor in the ventralis oralis posterior nucleus region along the ventral intermediate nucleus/ventralis oralis posterior nucleus border (4 mm anterior and 3 mm superior to that for essential tremor). Both disorders showed similar functional connectivity patterns: a positive correlation between tremor improvement and involvement of the primary sensorimotor, secondary motor and associative prefrontal regions. Tremor improvement, however, was tightly correlated with the primary sensorimotor regions in essential tremor, whereas in dystonic tremor, the correlation was tighter with the premotor and prefrontal regions. The dentato-rubro-thalamic tract, comprising the decussating and non-decussating fibres, significantly correlated with tremor improvement in both dystonic and essential tremor. In contrast, the pallidothalamic tracts, which primarily project to the ventralis oralis posterior nucleus region, significantly correlated with tremor improvement only in dystonic tremor. Our findings support the hypothesis that the pathophysiology underpinning dystonic tremor involves both the cerebello-thalamo-cortical network and the basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical network. Further our data suggest that the pathophysiology of essential tremor is primarily attributable to the abnormalities within the cerebello-thalamo-cortical network. We conclude that the ventral intermediate nucleus/ventralis oralis posterior nucleus border and ventral intermediate nucleus region may be a reasonable DBS target for patients with medication-refractory dystonic tremor and essential tremor, respectively. Uncovering the pathophysiology of these disorders may in the future aid in further improving DBS outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takashi Tsuboi
- Department of Neurology, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Joshua K Wong
- Department of Neurology, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Robert S Eisinger
- Department of Neurology, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | | | - Mathew R Burns
- Department of Neurology, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Adolfo Ramirez-Zamora
- Department of Neurology, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Leonardo Almeida
- Department of Neurology, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Aparna Wagle Shukla
- Department of Neurology, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Kelly D Foote
- Department of Neurosurgery, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Michael S Okun
- Department of Neurology, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | | | - Erik H Middlebrooks
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.,Department of Neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
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20
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Riskin-Jones HH, Kashanian A, Sparks H, Tsolaki E, Pouratian N. Increased structural connectivity of thalamic stimulation sites to motor cortex relates to tremor suppression. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2021; 30:102628. [PMID: 33773164 PMCID: PMC8024765 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Clinically weighted tractography reveals key patterns of therapeutic brain stimulation. Thalamic stimulation for tremor preferentially connects to precentral gyrus and cerebellum. Thalamic DBS of areas most connected to motor cortex results in superior outcomes. Acute and chronic therapeutic outcomes demonstrate converging connectivity patterns.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM-DBS) is a highly successful treatment for medication-refractory essential tremor (ET). Clinical outcomes are dependent on accurate targeting. Here, we aim to develop a framework for connectivity-guided DBS targeting by evaluating probabilistic tractography and clinical response at both initial programming (IP) and clinical follow-up (CF). Magnetic resonance imaging and clinical outcomes were evaluated in 23 ET patients who were treated by VIM-DBS at the University of California Los Angeles (20 at IP, 18 at CF, 14 at both). Lead-DBS was used to model the volume of tissue activated tissue (VTA) based on programming configurations at both IP and CF. Probabilistic tractography, calculated in FSL, was used to evaluate 1) clinically weighted whole brain connectivity of VTA; 2) connectivity between VTA and freesurfer-derived target regions of interest (ROI) including primary motor, premotor, and prefrontal cortices, and cerebellum; and 3) volume of intersection between VTA and probabilistic tractography-based segmentation of the thalamus. At IP, individual contacts were scored as high or low efficacy based on acute tremor improvement. At CF, clinical response was measured by percent of change of the Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor (CRST) compared to preoperative scores. Contributions from each target ROI to clinical response was measured using logistic regression for IP and linear regression for CF. The clinically weighted map of whole brain connectivity of VTA shows preferential connectivity to precentral gyrus and brainstem/cerebellum. The volume of intersection between VTA and thalamic segmentation map based on probabilistic connectivity to primary motor cortex was a significant predictor of contact efficacy at IP (OR = 2.26 per 100 mm3 of overlap, p = .04) and percent change in CRST at CF (β = 14.67 per 100 mm3 of overlap, p = .003). Targeting DBS to the area of thalamus most connected to primary motor cortex based on probabilistic tractography is associated with superior outcomes, providing a potential guide not only for lead targeting but also therapeutic programming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah H Riskin-Jones
- Department of Neurosurgery, 300 UCLA Stein Plaza, Suite 562, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Alon Kashanian
- Department of Neurosurgery, 300 UCLA Stein Plaza, Suite 562, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Hiro Sparks
- Department of Neurosurgery, 300 UCLA Stein Plaza, Suite 562, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Evangelia Tsolaki
- Department of Neurosurgery, 300 UCLA Stein Plaza, Suite 562, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Nader Pouratian
- Department of Neurosurgery, 300 UCLA Stein Plaza, Suite 562, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Los Angeles, CA, United States.
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