Limb Preference Changes after Focused-Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Tremor

Magnetic resonance-guided focused-ultrasound (MRgFUS) thalamotomy is an effective treatment for essential and other tremors. It targets the ventrointermedius (Vim) nucleus, which is the thalamic relay in a proprioceptive pathway, and contains kinesthetic cells. Although MRgFUS thalamotomy reduces some risks associated with more invasive surgeries, it still has side effects, such as balance and gait disturbances; these may be caused by the lesion impacting proprioception.

Our aim was to quantitatively measure the effects of MRgFUS on proprioception and limb use in essential tremor patients. We hypothesized that this thalamotomy alters proprioception, because the sensorimotor Vim thalamus is lesioned.

Proprioception was measured using the Kinarm exoskeleton robot in 18 patients. Data were collected pre-operatively, and then 1 day, 3 months, and 1 year after surgery. Patients completed four tasks, assessing motor coordination and postural control, goal-directed movement and bimanual planning, position sense, and kinesthesia.

Immediately after surgery there were changes in posture speed (indicating tremor improvement), and in bimanual hand use, with the untreated limb being preferred. However, these measures returned to pre-operative baseline over time. There were no changes in parameters related to proprioception. None of these measures correlated with lesion size or lesion-overlap with the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract.

This is the first quantitative assessment of proprioception and limb preference following MRgFUS thalamotomy. Our results suggest that focused-ultrasound lesioning of the Vim thalamus does not degrade proprioception but alters limb preference. This change may indicate a required "relearning" in the treated limb, because the effect is transient. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.