Symptomatic and functional outcome of stereotactic ventralis lateralis thalamotomy for intention tremor

In the past, intention tremor has responded well to selected neuroablative procedures; however, objective symptomatic and functional outcomes of ventralis lateralis (VL) thalamotomy specifically for intention tremor in the post-computerized tomography era has rarely been reported. This series explored the symptomatic and functional impact of VL thalamotomy on 14 patients presenting at the Mayo Clinic with severe, refractory intention tremor due to multiple sclerosis (five patients), trauma (four patients), or stroke (five patients). General neurological examinations, psychometric evaluations, speech pathology assessments, and neuroradiological scans were performed. Pre- and postoperative disability were graded according to a modified form of an established rating scale for tremor. All patients received VL radiofrequency thalamotomies utilizing neurophysiological recording and stimulation control. Contralateral targeted upper-extremity tremor remained symptomatically absent or markedly reduced in 81.8% of cases (mean follow-up period 23.4 months). The median disability score was reduced by 12 points (0.02 less than p less than 0.05). Persistent surgical morbidity was limited to two patients with mild, nondisabling dysarthrias. One elderly patient died of pulmonary complications 2 weeks postoperatively. There were no reported surgically induced exacerbations in multiple sclerosis; however, some of these patients exhibited difficulties with electrophysiological localization. These results compare favorably with those reported in the literature and confirm that stereotactic VL thalamotomy for debilitating intention tremor carries a low surgical risk and can be an effective treatment option for properly selected patients.