Luyten, l., hendrickx, s., raymaekers, s., gabriels, l., nuttin, b.Electrical stimulation in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis alleviates severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.Molecular psychiatry.2015.1-9.Doi: 10.1038/mp.2015.124 summary: in 1998, we proposed deep brain stimulation as a last-resort treatment option for patients suffering from severe, treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd).Here, 24 ocd patients were included in a long-term follow-up study to evaluate the effects of electrical stimulation in the anterior limbs of the internal capsule (alic) and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (bst).We find that electrical stimulation in the alic/bst area is safe and significantly decreases obsessions, compulsions, and associated anxiety and depressive symptoms, and improves global functioning in a blinded crossover trial (n = 17), after 4 years (n = 18), and at last followup (up to 171 months, n = 24).Moreover, our data indicate that bst may be a better stimulation target compared with alic to alleviate ocd symptoms.We conclude that electrical stimulation in bst is a promising therapeutic option for otherwise treatment resistant ocd patients.Reported events: patient 16: one (b)(6) male patient with bilateral deep brain stimulation (dbs) targeting the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (bst) to treat obsessive compulsive disorder (ocd) experienced severe obstructive sleep apnea 17 months after device implant.This was considered "probably not stimulation induced." further information has been requested; a supplemental report will be submitted if additional information is received.
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