MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy Beneficial for Essential Tremor

MONDAY, Aug. 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) — For patients with essential tremor, staged, bilateral magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy improves tremor/motor scores, according to a study published online July 29 in JAMA Neurology.

Michael G. Kaplitt, M.D., Ph.D., from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and colleagues examined the safety and efficacy of staged, bilateral, magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy in a prospective, open-label, multicenter trial involving patients with essential tremor. Fifty-one patients were treated.

The researchers found that the mean tremor/motor score improved from 17.4 to 6.4 at three months (66 percent improvement in Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor parts A and B scores). Significant improvement was also seen in mean postural tremor (from 2.5 to 0.6) and mean disability scores (from 10.3 to 2.2). Mild ataxia developed in 12 patients and persisted at 12 months in six participants. Adverse events were mostly mild (85 percent) and included numbness/tingling, dysarthria, ataxia, unsteadiness/imbalance, and taste disturbance. Speech difficulty was generally mild and transient.

“In this open-label study of 51 participants, staged, bilateral magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy significantly reduced tremor severity and functional disability scores,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry; one author holds patents for brain stimulation.

Abstract/Full Text

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