Deep Brain Stimulation of the Anterior Thalamus for Intractable Epilepsy

Kang, Ju-Young; Lee, Myung-Ki; No, Soon-Kee; Ghang, Chang-Ghu

Case report

Journal of the Korean Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery 2009;5(1):61-63.
Published online June 30, 2009.

Deep Brain Stimulation of the Anterior Thalamus for Intractable Epilepsy

Ju-Young Kang, Myung-Ki Lee, Soon-Kee No, Chang-Ghu Ghang

Departments of Neurosurgery, Neurology, Bongseng Memorial Hospital, Busan, Korea

Abstract

Targeting the anterior thalamic area using deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been regaining interest as a therapy for epilepsy. We describe the case of a 32-year-old man with an 8-year history of epilepsy, despite having received medical treatment and the surgical procedure of vagus nerve stimulation. He underwent DBS of bilateral anterior thalamic nuclei and had obtained a significant decrease in seizure frequency without significant side effects at the 14 month follow-up. Benefit was immediate within 1 month and delayed at 6 months, raising the possibility of a microthalamotomy effect and a process of gradual readaptation of the circuits related to seizure, respectively. Anterior thalamic DBS is suggested as an option for the treatment of intractable seizure in selected patients with medically resistant seizure.

Key Words: Deep brain stimulation, Epilepsy.