title: Deep brain stimulation in a Chinese Tourette's syndrome patient.
abstract: A 31-year-old Chinese man with intractable severe, lifelong Tourette's syndrome characterised by forceful self-injurious motor tics and socially embarrassing vocal tics was treated with bilateral deep brain stimulation. Electrodes were implanted into the thalamic targets at the centromedian-parafascicular complex according to Hassler's nomenclature. A dramatic reduction of tics resulted. At 18 months postoperatively, there was an 81% improvement in his total tics count and a 58% improvement in his Yale Global Tic Severity Scale. His modified Rush video scale decreased from 13 to 8 and visual analogue scale from 10 to 3. These data show that bilateral deep brain stimulation of the thalamus can have a favourable immediate effect on severe tics in a selected group of adult patients suffering from intractable Tourette's syndrome and postoperatively the beneficial effects persisted for at least 18 months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Chai Wan, Hong Kong. michaelwylee@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Michael W Y
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mandy M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Au-Yeung
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*