Improvement of obsessive–compulsive disorder after pallidothalamic tractotomy for cervical dystonia

Abstract

A 30-year-old woman with tardive dystonia in the cervical region from long-term antipsychotic meds was treated with radiofrequency ablation of the right pallidothalamic tract in the fields of Forel. The patient showed improvement in both cervical dystonia and obsessive–compulsive disorder after the procedure, with 77.4% improvement in cervical dystonia and 86.7% improvement in obsessive–compulsive disorder. Although the treatment site in this case was intended to treat cervical dystonia, the lesion was located in the optimal stimulation network for both obsessive–compulsive disorder and cervical dystonia, suggesting that neuromodulation of this region could potentially treat both simultaneously.