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Essential Tremor: Deep Brain Stimulation

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Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery

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Abstract

Comprising of axial and/or kinetic tremors, essential tremor (ET) is a debilitating and common movement disorder that negatively affects up to 1% of the global population. When patients fail medical therapy, deep brain stimulation (DBS) is one of the current standards of care for medically refractory ET treatment. Using stereotactic methods, surgeons may stimulate the ventral intermediate thalamic nucleus (VIM) and novel targets, such as the posterior subthalamic area and the zona incerta, with long-term benefits and significant tremor reduction. Other alternatives include stereotactic radiosurgery and MRI-guided focused ultrasound (FUS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Adela Wu & Casey Halpern

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  1. Adela Wu
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  2. Casey Halpern
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Correspondence to Adela Wu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Nader Pouratian

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Sameer A. Sheth

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Wu, A., Halpern, C. (2020). Essential Tremor: Deep Brain Stimulation. In: Pouratian, N., Sheth, S. (eds) Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34906-6_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34906-6_20

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