Long-term comparative effectiveness of deep brain stimulation in severe obsessive-compulsive disorder

Twenty years after the first use of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), our knowledge of the long-term effects of this therapeutic option remains very limited.

Our study aims to assess the long-term effectiveness and tolerability of DBS in OCD patients and to look for possible predictors of long-term response to this treatment.

We studied the course of 25 patients with severe refractory OCD treated with DBS over an average follow-up period of 6.4 years (±3.2) and compared them with a control group of 25 patients with severe OCD who refused DBS and maintained their usual treatment. DBS was implanted at the ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule and nucleus accumbens (vALIC-Nacc) in the first six patients and later at the bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) in the rest of patients. Main outcome was change in Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) score between the two groups assessed using mixed models. Secondary effectiveness outcomes included Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores.

Obsessive symptoms fell by 42.5% (Y-BOCS score) in patients treated with DBS and by 4.8% in the control group. Fifty-six per cent of DBS-treated patients could be considered responders at the end of follow-up and 28% partial responders. Two patients among those who rejected DBS were partial responders (8%), but none of the non-DBS group achieved criteria for complete response. HDRS and GAF scores improved significantly in 39.2% and 43.6% among DBS-treated patients, while did not significantly change in those who rejected DBS (improvement limited to 6.2% in HDRS and 4.2% in GAF scores). No statistically significant predictors of response were found. Mixed models presented very large comparative effect sizes for DBS (4.29 for Y-BOCS, 1.15 for HDRS and 2.54 for GAF). Few patients experienced adverse effects and most of these effects were mild and transitory.

The long-term comparative effectiveness and safety of DBS confirm it as a valid option for the treatment of severe refractory OCD.