Deep brain stimulation of the posterior subthalamic area as an alternative strategy for management of Holmes tremor: A case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Background: Holmes tremor is often refractory to medical treatment and deep brain stimulation of the ventralis intermedius nucleus of the thalamus (VIM-DBS) is the intervention of choice in controlling the tremor. Herein, we present a beneficial alternative strategy for the management of such situations, considering the posterior subthalamic area (PSA) as the target of stimulation. Case Description: We report a 57-year-old male with the right-sided tremor following a traumatic brain injury 20 years ago. He had been diagnosed with Holmes tremor that was not responsive to nonsurgical therapeutic options. When refractoriness confirmed, he became a candidate for VIM-DBS. During the operation, by performing macrostimulation with a maximum of 2 mA of amplitude, the tremor had no response to the stimulation of different tracts, and severe right hemi-body paresthesia occurred; therefore, we modified our approach and targeted the PSA, which resulted in satisfactory control of the tremor. The permanent lead was implanted into the left side PSA. At 1-year follow-up, the right side tremor was under complete control. Conclusion: Our case and other similar pieces of evidence are consistently indicating the potential regulatory effects of PSA-DBS in controlling the Holmes tremor as a feasible alternative strategy when VIM-DBS does not provide a satisfactory response. However, further studies with larger sample size are required to evaluate the long-term response and its possible long-term stimulation-related effects.