Small studies show successful use of DBS
Most of the researchers testing DBS in patients with epilepsy have stimulated the anterior thalamic nucleus, a structure in the lower central part of the brain.. At the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society in December 2000, two studies of deep brain stimulation in humans were reported during a symposium on neurostimulation.
A study by Kerrigan and associates1 from the Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, involved anterior thalamic nucleus stimulation in four patients with refractory partial seizures. All patients showed a reduction in seizures of more than 40% and no side effects.
A study by Lozano and colleagues2 from the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, performed bilateral anterior thalamic nucleus stimulation in 5 patients and followed their progress for 3 to 12 months. Three patients had 30% to 40% fewer seizures, one patient had 70% fewer, and one patient's seizures were reduced 93%. No adverse events were reported. (The same study was published in the journal Epilepsia in 2002.)
These studies are encouraging but small. More studies are needed before anterior thalamic stimulation is recommended as a therapy for patients with uncontrollable epilepsy.
References
1. Kerrigan JF, Fisher RS, Blum D, et al. Electrical stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus for the treatment of intractable epilepsy. Program and Abstracts of the 54th Annual Meeting of American Epilepsy Society; December 1-6, 2000; Los Angeles, California. Abstract 100670.
2. Hodaie M, Wennberg RA, Dostrovsky JO, Lozano AM. Chronic anterior thalamus stimulation for intractable epilepsy. Epilepsia. 2002 Jun;43(6):603-8. PMID 12060019.