Pallidal deep brain stimulation in a 5-year-old child with dystonic storm: Case report

Abstract

A 5-year-old child had a medical history of epilepsy and a newly presented mental retardation with a life-threatening dystonic storm. Neuroimagings showed bilateral calcification of the pallidum. Several treatment modalities were performed, but the symptoms showed no significant improvement. The patient was operated on in order to place a deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting bilateral globus pallidum internus (GPi). The dystonia showed a remarkable improvement after surgery, with 81% reduction of dystonia severity after 15 months. To our best knowledge, this is the youngest patient mentioned in the literature to be treated with DBS, which was also life-saving in this case.