title: Deep Brain Stimulation for Essential Vocal Tremor: A Technical Report.
abstract: Essential vocal tremor (EVT) is the presence of a tremulous voice that is commonly associated with essential tremor. Patients with EVT often report a necessary increase in vocal effort that significantly worsens with stress and anxiety and can significantly impact quality of life despite optimal medical and behavioral treatment options. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been proposed as an effective therapy for vocal tremor, but very few studies exist in the literature that comprehensively evaluate the efficacy of DBS for specifically addressing EVT. We present a technical report on our multidisciplinary, comprehensive operative methodology for treatment of EVT with frameless, awake deep brain stimulation (DBS).
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Allen L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Neurosurgery, Stanford Medical Center.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Choudhri
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center.
authors.forename: C Kwang
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center.
authors.forename: Elizabeth E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: DiRenzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University Medical Center.
authors.forename: Casey H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Halpern
keywords: acoustic analysis; awake dbs; deep brain stimulation; essential vocal tremor; laryngoscopy; microelectrode recording; tremor; ventral intermediate nucleus; voice; voice analysis