Electroconvulsive therapy in the presence of deep brain stimulation implants: electric field effects.

The safety of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients who have deep brain stimulation (DBS) implants represents a significant clinical issue. A major safety concern is the presence of burr holes and electrode anchoring devices in the skull, which may alter the induced electric field distribution in the brain. We simulated the electric field using finite-element method in a five-shell spherical head model. Three DBS electrode anchoring techniques were modeled, including ring/cap, microplate, and burr-hole cover. ECT was modeled with bilateral (BL), right unilateral (RUL), and bifrontal (BF) electrode placements and with clinically-used stimulus current amplitude. We compared electric field strength and focality among the DBS implantation techniques and ECT electrode configurations. The simulation results show an increase in the electric field strength in the brain due to conduction through the burr holes, especially when the burr holes are not fitted with nonconductive caps. For typical burr hole placement for subthalamic nucleus DBS, the effect on the electric field strength and focality is strongest for BF ECT, which runs contrary to the belief that more anterior ECT electrode placements are safer in patients with DBS implants.

Inflammation and central nervous system Lyme disease.

Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, can cause multi-systemic signs and symptoms, including peripheral and central nervous system disease. This review examines the evidence for and mechanisms of inflammation in neurologic Lyme disease, with a specific focus on the central nervous system, drawing upon human studies and controlled research with experimentally infected rhesus monkeys. Directions for future human research are suggested that may help to clarify the role of inflammation as a mediator of the chronic persistent symptoms experienced by some patients despite antibiotic treatment for neurologic Lyme disease.

Deep brain stimulation in movement and psychiatric disorders.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is the most focal and invasive of the electromagnetic brain stimulation therapies. A subcutaneous pulse generator provides continuous stimulation of circumscribed brain tissue via a multicontact microelectrode that terminates within its target. The result is an adjustable, reversible, and specific therapy. Despite limited understanding of its mechanisms of action, DBS efficacy has been established in several movement disorders, and promising reports have emerged for Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and major depression. Deep brain stimulation may prove to be a reasonable option for severely ill and treatment-resistant patients who otherwise have limited therapeutic options and a poor prognosis.

Increased risk of head tremor in women with essential tremor: longitudinal data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project.

In one cross-sectional study of a community in northern Manhattan, women with essential tremor (ET) were more likely to have head tremor than were men. In that study, patients were seen at one point in time, rather than followed longitudinally. Head tremor often develops after arm tremor, and its appearance in patients with ET may therefore be a function of duration of follow-up. In a second epidemiological study utilizing the Rochester Epidemiology Project, in which ET subjects were followed from disease diagnosis to death, we determined whether there was an association between female gender and head tremor. We utilized the records-linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Project to identify ET cases. Records were reviewed and clinical data abstracted by a neurologist specializing in movement disorders. A second neurologist reviewed a subsample of records. There were 107 ET cases (69 women, 38 men) followed for 10.1 +/- 9.1 years from ET diagnosis to death. Head tremor was present in 37 (53.6%) women and 5 (13.2%) men (odds ratio [OR] = 7.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.7-21.9, P < 0.001). In a multivariate linear regression analysis, women remained at high risk for head tremor (OR = 6.5, 95% CI = 2.2-19.0, P = 0.001) independent of disease duration. We found in this longitudinal epidemiological study that women with ET were six times more likely to develop head tremor over the course of their illness than were men. The reason for the association between gender and head tremor, which has now been demonstrated in several studies, is not known, but it could reflect gender differences in the distribution of disease pathology within the brain.