Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS)-Thalamotomy for Essential Tremor: Lesion Location and Clinical Outcomes. Scientific Publication

Apr 14, 2024 | Magazine: Movement Disorders

Alana Arcadi 1 , Iciar Aviles-Olmos 2 3 , Lain Hermes Gonzalez-Quarante 1 , Arantza Gorospe 2 3 , Adolfo Jiménez-Huete 2 , Marta Macías de la Corte 1 , Olga Parras 4 , Antonio Martin-Bastida 2 , Mario Riverol 2 3 , Rafael Villino 2 3 , Jorge Guridi 1 , Maria C Rodríguez-Oroz 2 3

Background: Factors predicting clinical outcomes after MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS)-thalamotomy in patients with essential tremor (ET) are not well known.

Objective: To examine the clinical outcomes and their relationship with patients' baseline demographic and clinical features and lesion characteristics at 6-month follow-up in ET patients.

Methods: A total of 127 patients were prospectively evaluated at 1 (n = 122), 3 (n = 102), and 6 months (n = 78) after MRgFUS-thalamotomy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was obtained at 6 months (n = 60). Primary outcomes included: (1) change in the Clinical Rating Scale of Tremor (CRST)-A+B score in the treated hand and (2) frequency and severity of adverse events (AEs) at 6 months. Secondary outcomes included changes in all subitems of the CRST scale in the treated hand, CRST-C, axial tremor (face, head, voice, tongue), AEs, and correlation of primary outcomes at 6 months with lesion characteristics. Statistical analysis included linear mixed, standard, and logistic regression models.

Results: Scores for CRST-A+B, CRST-A, CRST-B in the treated hand, CRST-C, and axial tremor were improved at each evaluation (P < 0.001). Five patients had severe AEs at 1 month that became mild throughout the follow-up. Mild AEs occurred in 71%, 45%, and 34% of patients at 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. Lesion volume was associated with the reduction in the CRST-A (P = 0.003) and its overlapping with the ventralis intermedius nucleus (Vim) nucleus with the reduction in CRST-A+B (P = 0.02) and CRST-B (P = 0.008) at 6 months.

Conclusions: MRgFUS-thalamotomy improves hand and axial tremor in ET patients. Transient and mild AEs are frequent. Lesion volume and location are associated with tremor reduction. © 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

CITATION Mov Disord. 2024 Apr 14. doi: 10.1002/mds.29801

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