Chinese medical journal
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Chinese medical journal · May 2016
Deep Brain Stimulation of the Globus Pallidus Internus in Patients with Intractable Tourette Syndrome: A 1-year Follow-up Study.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been a promising treatment for patients with refractory Tourette syndrome (TS) for more than a decade. Despite successful DBS treatment of TS in more than 100 patients worldwide, studies with a large patient sample and long-term follow-up assessments are still scarce. Accordingly, we investigated the clinical efficacy and safety of globus pallidus internus (GPi) DBS in the treatment of intractable TS in 24 patients with a 1-year follow-up assessment. ⋯ GPi-DBS appears to comprehensively alleviate tic symptoms and psychiatric comorbidities in patients with TS, thus significantly improving patients' quality of life.