Scientific publications

Successful thalamic deep brain stimulation for orthostatic tremor

Oct 15, 2008 | Magazine: Movement Disorders

Jorge Guridi, (1,2,3), Maria C. Rodriguez-Oroz, (1,2,3), Javier Arbizu (4), Manuel Alegre (1,2), Elena Prieto(4), Ignacio Landecho (5), Miguel Manrique(1), Julio Artieda (1,2) and Jose A. Obeso (1,2,3)
(1) Department of Neurology, Neurophysiology and Neurosurgery, Clínica Universitaria, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
(2) Neurosciences Area, CIMA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
(3) Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Spain
(4) Department of Nuclear Medicine, Clínica Universitaria, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
(5) Department of Psychiatry, Clínica Universitaria, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain


We report a patient with severe orthostatic tremor (OT) unresponsive to pharmacological treatments that was successfully controlled with thalamic (Vim, ventralis intermedius nucleus) deep brain stimulation (DBS) over a 4-year period.

Cortical activity associated with the OT revealed by EEG back-averaging and fluoro-deoxi-glucose PET were also suppressed in parallel with tremor arrest.

This case suggests that Vim-DBS may be a useful therapeutic approach for patients highly disabled by OT.

CITATION  Mov Disord. 2008 Oct 15;23(13):1808-11