• José Angel Pineda-Pardo, Daniele Urso, Raul Martínez-Fernández, Rafael Rodríguez-Rojas, Marta Del-Alamo, Patricio Millar Vernetti, Jorge U Máñez-Miró, Frida Hernández-Fernández, Esther de Luis-Pastor, Lydia Vela-Desojo, and José A Obeso.
• CINAC (Centro Integral de Neurociencias), University Hospital HM Puerta del Sur, CEU-San Pablo University, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain.
• Neurosurgery. 2020 Aug 1; 87 (2): 256-265.

BackgroundTranscranial magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (tcMRgFUS) thalamotomy is a novel and effective treatment for controlling tremor in essential tremor patients.ObjectiveTo provide a comprehensive characterization of the radiological, topographical, and volumetric aspects of the tcMRgFUS thalamic lesion, and to quantify how they relate to the clinical outcomes.MethodsIn this study, clinical and radiological data from forty patients with medically-refractory essential tremor treated with unilateral tcMRgFUS thalamotomy were retrospectively analyzed. Treatment efficacy was assessed with Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor (CRST). Lesions were manually segmented on T1, T2, and susceptibility-weighted images, and 3-dimensional topographical analysis was then carried out. Statistical comparisons were performed using nonparametric statistics.ResultsThe greatest clinical improvement was correlated with a more inferior and posterior lesion, a bigger lesion volume, and percentage of the ventral intermediate nucleus covered by the lesion; whereas, the largest lesions accounted for the occurrence of gait imbalance. Furthermore, the volume of the lesion was significantly predicted by the number of sonications surpassing 52°C.ConclusionHere we provide a comprehensive characterization of the thalamic tcMRgFUS lesion including radiological and topographical analysis. Our results indicate that the location and volume of the lesion were significantly associated with the clinical outcome and that mid-temperatures may be responsible for the lesion size. This could serve ultimately to improve targeting and judgment and to optimize clinical outcome of tcMRgFUS thalamotomy.Copyright © 2019 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

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