Deep brain stimulation for childhood dystonia: current evidence and emerging practice

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Dystonia, one of the most common childhood movement disorders, is often medically refractory and can lead to profound impacts on the child and their caretakers’ quality of life. Limited efficacy of pharmacological treatments has fueled enthusiasm for innovative neurosurgical approaches, notably deep brain stimulation (DBS) as a treatment for refractory dystonia.

Areas covered: DBS is increasingly applied to successfully treat childhood dystonia. While generally safe and effective, results vary widely depending on underlying dystonia etiology. The current work synthesizes and highlights advances in research pertaining to the use of DBS for childhood dystonia. The efficacy of DBS for children and youth with dystonia is discussed, with analysis divided among etiological subtypes. The role of DBS as a lifesaving treatment for status dystonicus is also reviewed.

Expert commentary: When carefully selected, certain children and youth with dystonia experience significant symptomatic improvement after DBS. Beyond dystonic symptoms, DBS can improve quality of life and reduce caretaker burden.

KEYWORDS:

• DBS
• deep brain stimulation
• pediatric dystonia
• childhood dystonia
• status dystonicus

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.