The Surgical Approach to the Anterior Nucleus of Thalamus in Patients With Refractory Epilepsy: Experience from the International Multicenter Registry (MORE)

Abstract BACKGROUND The Medtronic Registry for Epilepsy (MORE; Medtronic Inc, Dublin, Ireland) is an open label observational study evaluating the long-term effectiveness, safety, and performance of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the anterior nucleus of thalamus (ANT) for the treatment of refractory epilepsy. OBJECTIVE To compare the difference in success rate of placing contacts at ANT-target region (ANT-TR) between transventricular (TV) and extraventricular (EV) lead trajectories in 73 ANT-DBS implants in 17 European centers participating in the MORE registry. METHODS The success rate of placing contacts at ANT-TR was evaluated using a screening method combining both individual patient imaging information and stereotactic atlas information to identify contacts at ANT-TR. RESULTS EV lead trajectory was used in 53% of the trajectories. Approximately, 90% of the TV lead trajectories had at least 1 contact at ANT-TR, vs only 71% of the EV lead trajectories. The success rate for placing at least 1 contact at ANT-TR bilaterally was 84% for TV implants and 58% for EV implants ( P < .05; Fisher's exact). No intracranial bleedings were observed, but 1 cortical infarct was reported following EV lead trajectory. CONCLUSION The results of this registry support the use of TV lead trajectories for ANT-DBS as they have a higher probability in placing contacts at ANT-TR, without appearing to compromise procedural safety. Follow-up data collection is continuing in the MORE registry. These data will provide outcomes associated with TV and EV trajectories.