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Introduction: Voice tremor (VT) is a common symptom of Essential tremor (ET). Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment for ET overall, however, its effect on VT is less clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term effects of DBS on VT and to investigate how VT symptoms develop over time in patients with ET., Methods: VT scores for the cohort of 81 ET patients that had undergone DBS surgery in the caudal zona incerta (cZi) were analyzed retrospectively. Thirty-four patients had preoperative VT and long-term evaluations were available for 19 patients. Longitudinal effects of cZi-DBS were investigated 1, 3 and 5 years postoperatively. VT progression was evaluated based on preoperative-, and off stimulation postoperative assessments., Results: Unilateral cZi-DBS reduced average voice tremor by 58% at the 3-year follow-up and by 67% 5 years after surgery. Four patterns of VT development were identified among patients, and the effectiveness of cZi-DBS in alleviating voice tremor symptoms showed differing patterns for these subgroups., Conclusions: This retrospective analysis of a small cohort of patients suggests that cZi-DBS may reduce VT in the long-term for patients with ET overall, but the pattern of VT progression likely influences the effectiveness of the treatment. These results also suggest that unilateral cZi-DBS may be more efficacious when treating patients with mild to moderate VT. A prospective, blinded, controlled clinical trial in patients with ET is needed to determine developmental patterns of VT, and the safety and efficacy of cZi-DBS for the treatment of VT., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Stereotactic functional neurosurgery on basal ganglia has a long history and the pioneers are mostly men. We aimed at finding out if there were women who have contributed pioneering work in this field., Methods: The literature was searched to identify women who have been first to publish innovative papers related to human basal ganglia surgery., Results: Six women fulfilling our criteria were found: Marion Smith, a British neuropathologist, made unique observations on stereotactic lesions of basal ganglia and thalamus on autopsied brains, and the lesions' relation to the reported clinical outcome. Natalia Bechtereva, a Russian neurophysiologist, pioneered the technique of therapeutic chronic deep brain stimulation to treat various brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD). Denise Albe-Fessard, a French neurophysiologist, pioneered the technique of microelectrode recording (MER) in stereotactic functional neurosurgery. Gunvor Kullberg, a Swedish neurosurgeon, contributed in early CT imaging as well as early functional imaging of stereotactic lesions in PD and psychiatric patients. Hilda Molina, a Cuban neurosurgeon, established the Centro Internacional de Restauración Neurológica (CIREN) and pioneered there MER-guided transplant surgery in PD patients. Veerle Vandewalle, a Belgian neurosurgeon, pioneered in 1999 deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Tourette Syndrome., Conclusion: Although men constitute the great majority of neurosurgeons, neurologists and other neuro-specialists who have made groundbreaking contributions in basal ganglia surgery, there are women who have made equally important and unique contributions to the field. The principal two techniques used today in functional stereotactic neurosurgery, MER and DBS, have once upon a time been pioneered by women., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The subthalamic nucleus is currently the target of choice in deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease (PD), while thalamic DBS is used in some cases of tremor-dominant PD. Recently, a number of studies have presented promising results from DBS in the posterior subthalamic area, including the caudal zona incerta (cZi). The aim of the current study was to evaluate cZi DBS in tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease., Methods: 14 patients with predominately unilateral tremor-dominant PD and insufficient relief from pharmacologic therapy were included and evaluated according to the motor part of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). The mean age was 65 ± 6.1 years and the disease duration 7 ± 5.7 years. Thirteen patients were operated on with unilateral cZi DBS and 1 patient with a bilateral staged procedure. Five patients had non-L-dopa responsive symptoms. The patients were evaluated on/off medication before surgery and on/off medication and stimulation after a minimum of 12 months after surgery., Results: At the follow-up after a mean of 18.1 months stimulation in the off-medication state improved the contralateral UPDRS III score by 47.7%. Contralateral tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia were improved by 82.2%, 34.3%, and 26.7%, respectively. Stimulation alone abolished tremor at rest in 10 (66.7%) and action tremor in 8 (53.3%) of the patients., Conclusion: Unilateral cZi DBS seems to be safe and effective for patients with severe Parkinsonian tremor. The effects on rigidity and bradykinesia were, however, not as profound as in previous reports of DBS in this area., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Laryngeal hypokinesia is a common symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD) that affects quality of life. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is well recognized as a complementary method for treatment of motor symptoms in PD but the outcomes on patients' control over phonatory alternation have yet not been clearly elucidated. The present study examined the effect of subthalamic nucleus STN-DBS (n = 8, aged 51-72 yrs; median = 63 yrs) and caudal Zona incerta cZi-DBS (n = 8, aged 49-71 yrs; median = 61 yrs) on control of onset and offset of phonation in connected speech. The patients were evaluated in a preoperatively (Med ON, 1.5 times the ordinary Levodopa dose) and 12 months post-operatively (Med ON, ordinary Levodopa dose). The results provided evidence of a progressive reduction in the ability to manifest alternations between voicing and voiceless states in a reading task. Mean proportion produced with inappropriate voicing increased from 47.6% to 55.3% and from 62.9% to 68.6% of the total duration for the two groups of patients between Pre-op and Post-op, Stim OFF evaluations. The medial and final parts of the fricative were more affected than the initial part, indicating an increased voicing lead into the following vowel. We propose that this reduction in phonatory control is be due to either progression of the disease, an effect of reduced Levodopa dosage or a microlesional effect. Patients' proficiency in alternating between voiced and voiceless states in connected speech remained unaffected by both STN-DBS and cZi-DBS., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment for essential tremor (ET). The nucleus ventralis intermedius thalami (Vim) is the target of choice, but promising results have been presented regarding DBS in the posterior subthalamic area (PSA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible influence of gender, age and severity of disease on the outcome of these procedures. Sixty eight patients (34 Vim, 34 PSA) with ET were included in this non-randomised study. Evaluation using the Essential Tremor Rating Scale (ETRS) was performed before, and one year after surgery concerning PSA DBS, and at a mean of 28 ± 24 months concerning Vim DBS. Items 5/6 and 11-14 (hand tremor and hand function) were selected for analysis of tremor outcome. The efficacy of DBS on essential tremor was not related to age or gender. Nor was it associated with the severity of tremor when the percentual reduction of tremor on stimulation was taken into account. However, patients with a more severe tremor at baseline had a higher degree of residual tremor on stimulation. Tremor in the treated hand and hand function were improved with 70% in the Vim group and 89% in the PSA group., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established surgical treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor and dystonia. It is generally acknowledged that the development of DBS as we know it today started with the publication of Benabid, Pollak et al in 1987 on thalamic DBS for tremor. This technique gained momentum in the mid-Nineties after that Pollak and Benabid introduced the subthalamic nucleus as a target in advanced PD. This paper reviews the gestational pre-natal era of deep brain stimulation, before 1987. The origin of DBS can be traced back to the practice of intra-operative electrical stimulation, used for target exploration prior to lesioning, during the early years of stereotactic functional neurosurgery. During the 60s, Sem-Jacobsen and others implanted externalised electrodes which were used for intermittent stimulation and evaluation during weeks or months, prior to subsequent ablation of thalamic and other basal ganglia targets. In the early 70s Bechtereva treated PD patients using "therapeutic electrical stimulation" through electrodes implanted for up to 1.5 years. In the late 70s and early 80s the term Deep Brain Stimulation was coined and few groups attempted treatment of Parkinson's disease, non-Parkinsonian tremor and dystonia with high-frequency stimulation using chronically implanted DBS systems. Cumbersome, un-sophisticated DBS hardware, together with the general decline of all surgery for PD following the introduction of levodopa, may have contributed to the lack of popularity of old-times DBS. It is to the credit of the Grenoble Group to have reinvented, modernised and expanded modern DBS in surgical treatment of movement disorders.

We present a 62 years old man with Parkinson's disease (PD) who underwent bilateral stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus (STN). During the intraoperative evaluation, stimulation through the lowest contact in the right STN area, induced an acute depressive state, during which the patient was crying and expressing that he did not want to live. The patient returned to his normal state of mood within seconds after the cessation of stimulation. Repeated blinded stimulations resulted in the same response. Immediate postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed that the lowest contact of the right electrode was located in the substantia nigra.

Both posteroventral pallidotomy and pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS) have a documented effect on Parkinsonian symptoms. DBS is more costly and more laborious than pallidotomy. The aim of this study was to analyse the respective long-term effect of each surgical procedure on contralateral symptoms in the same patients. Five consecutive patients, two women and three men, who at first surgery had a mean age of 64 years and a mean duration of disease of 18 years, received a pallidotomy contralateral to the more symptomatic side of the body. At a mean of 14 months later, the same patients received a pallidal DBS on the side contralateral to the pallidotomy. All patients had on-off phenomena and dyskinesias. There were three left-sided and two right-sided pallidotomies, and, subsequently, two left-sided and three right-sided pallidal DBS. The latest evaluation was performed 37 months (range 22-60) after the pallidotomy and 22 months (range 12-33) after the pallidal DBS. Mean UPDRS motor score pre-operatively was 49 and at last follow-up 33 (32.7% improvement, p<0.05). Appendicular items 20-26 contralateral to pallidotomy remained improved more significantly than contralateral to DBS. Dyskinesia scores were also improved more markedly contralateral to the pallidotomy. Two patients exhibited moderate dysarthria and one patient severe dysphonia following DBS. Symptoms contralateral to the chronologically older pallidotomy, especially dyskinesias, rigidity and tremor, were still more improved than symptoms contralateral to the more recent pallidal DBS, despite numerous post-operative patient visits to optimise stimulation parameters.