Thalamic deep brain stimulation for the treatment of action myoclonus caused by perinatal anoxia.
BACKGROUND
Perinatal anoxia rarely causes myoclonus as the main neurologic abnormality. The exact neuronal mechanism underlying myoclonus induced by perinatal anoxia remains unknown. Some studies have indicated that the development of involuntary movements may be related to the maturation of the thalamus after birth.


OBJECTIVE
Here, we describe the first case of a patient who developed action myoclonus after experiencing perinatal anoxia and was successfully treated by chronic deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the thalamus (thalamic DBS).


CONCLUSIONS
The effectiveness of chronic thalamic DBS in this patient supports the concept of involvement of the thalamus in post-perinatal anoxic myoclonus.
Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. kitta@med.nihon-u.ac.jp
Kazutaka
K
Kobayashi
Yoichi
Y
Katayama
Toshiharu
T
Otaka
Toshiki
T
Obuchi
Toshikazu
T
Kano
Takafumi
T
Nagaoka
Masahiko
M
Kasai
Hideki
H
Oshima
Chikashi
C
Fukaya
Takamitsu
T
Yamamoto
D000328:Adult; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D009207:Myoclonus / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D013788:Thalamus / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome