Pallidal deep brain stimulation in patients with primary generalised or segmental dystonia: 5-year follow-up of a randomised trial.

Background: Severe forms of primary dystonia are difficult to manage medically. We assessed the safety and efficacy of pallidal neurostimulation in patients with primary generalised or segmental dystonia prospectively followed up for 5 years in a controlled multicentre trial.

Methods: In the parent trial, 40 patients were randomly assigned to either sham neurostimulation or neurostimulation of the internal globus pallidus for a period of 3 months and thereafter all patients completed 6 months of active neurostimulation.

Pallidal deep-brain stimulation in primary generalized or segmental dystonia.

Background: Neurostimulation of the internal globus pallidus has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of primary dystonia. We compared this surgical treatment with sham stimulation in a randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Methods: Forty patients with primary segmental or generalized dystonia received an implanted device for deep-brain stimulation and were randomly assigned to receive either neurostimulation or sham stimulation for 3 months.