Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound for essential tremor:a prospective,single center,single-arm study

The safety and effectiveness of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy has been broadly established and validated for the treatment of essential tremor.In 2018,the first magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound system in Chinese mainland was installed at the First Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital.This prospective,single center,open-label,single-arm study was part of a worldwide prospective multicenter clinical trial(ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT03253991)conducted to confirm the safety and efficacy of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound for treating essential tremor in the local population.From 2019 to 2020,10 patients with medication refractory essential tremor were recruited into this open-label,single arm study.The treatment efficacy was determined using the Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor.Safety was evaluated according to the incidence and severity of adverse events.All of the subjects underwent a unilateral thalamotomy targeting the ventral intermediate nucleus.At the baseline assessment,the estimated marginal mean of the Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor total score was 58.3±3.6,and this improved after treatment to 23.1±6.4 at a 12-month follow-up assessment.A total of 50 adverse events were recorded,and 2 were defined as serious.The most common intraoperative adverse events were nausea and headache.The most frequent postoperative adverse events were paresthesia and equilibrium disorder.Most of the adverse events were mild and usually disappeared within a few days.Our findings suggest that magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound for the treatment of essential tremor is effective,with a good safety profile,for patients in Chinese mainland.

Advances in microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm

Primary hemifacial spasm(HFS) is a disorder that causes frequent involuntary contractions in the muscles on one side of the face, due to a blood vessel compressing the nerve at its root exit zone(REZ) from the brainstem. Numerous prospective and retrospective case series have confirmed the efficacy of microvascular decompression(MVD) of the facial nerve in patients with HFS. However, while MVD is effective, there are still significant postoperative complications. In this paper, recent technological advances related to MVD(such as lateral spread response,brainstem auditory evokes potential, three dimensional time of flight magnetic resonance angiography, intraoperative neuroendoscopy) are reviewed for the purposes of improving MVD treatment efficacy and reducing postoperative complications.