Safety of Bilateral Staged Magnetic Resonance‐Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Essential Tremor.

This prospective, open-label trial (NCT04720469) screened 16 consecutive mrET patients who had undergone MRgFUS thalamotomy at least 1 year prior (MRgFUS SB 1 sb ). Herein, staged, bilateral MRgFUS thalamotomy was safe in a small sample of patients with mrET. Keywords: essential tremor; bilateral; thalamotomy; focused ultrasound; safety EN essential tremor bilateral thalamotomy focused ultrasound safety 1559 1561 3 10/24/23 20231001 NES 231001 Staged, open-surgical lesioning of the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus to abate medication-refractory essential tremor (mrET) has been historically associated with a high frequency of adverse events (AEs), including speech and balance impairments.[1] More recently, the real-time imaging and thermometry guidance offered by magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) have allowed for minimally-invasive thalamotomies with increased focal accuracy to address upper limb tremor in ET patients.[2] Qualitative and semi-quantitative trials evaluating the safety of staged, bilateral MRgFUS thalamotomy have reported AEs that were mostly transient with mild to moderate severity based on patients' and physicians' perceived deficits.[[3], [5]] However, a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the potential post-thalamotomy changes in stance and gait balance (ie, equilibrium), and oro-motor function is lacking. We comprehensively evaluated the incidence and severity of AEs, including changes in equilibrium, speech, and cognition, following staged, bilateral MRgFUS thalamotomy for patients with mrET. [Extracted from the article]