Seizure incidence after deep brain stimulation: a meta-analysis of risk factors and target-specific outcomes in...

The reports of seizures following Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) are low; however, these seizures would be debilitating. Current literature has not provided a comprehensive analysis of seizure incidence post-DBS across various neuropsychiatric disorders. Additionally, there is a lack of insight into the contributing factors and the underlying mechanisms associated with this occurrence.

This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the incidence of epilepsy in patients with neurological disorders who have undergone DBS, excluding those with drug-resistant epilepsy.

The study was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines and involved thorough data extraction from several databases, specifically PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library, until 28-Feb-2025. We performed this Meta-analysis by using Comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA) software version 3.0 for the statistical analysis Results: This systematic review and meta-analysis encompassed 33 studies, and 5,488 patients. The most frequently neurological disorder which underwent DBS in this review, was Parkinson's Disease. Our meta-analysis revealed that the incidence of seizures following DBS was 2.9% (95% CI: 0.020 to 0.042; p-value < 0.001). A strong positive correlation was identified between the rate of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and seizure occurrence, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.635 (p-value: 0.007). Furthermore, there is a significant increase in the likelihood of seizure occurrences following globus pallidus internus- DBS compared to subthalamic nucleus- DBS.

Patients with neurological disorders following DBS may experience seizures; however, the incidence of such occurrences is low and typically resolves spontaneously.