Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established and expanding therapy for treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder. Previous work has suggested that a white matter circuit providing hyperdirect input from the dorsal cingulate and ventrolateral prefrontal regions to the subthalamic nucleus could be an effective neuromodulatory target.
Methods: We tested this concept by attempting to retrospectively explain through predictive modeling the ranks of clinical improvement as measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) in 10 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder who underwent DBS to the ventral anterior limb of internal capsule with subsequent programming uninformed by the putative target tract.
Results: Rank predictions were carried out using the tract model by a team that was completely uninvolved in DBS planning and programming. Predicted Y-BOCS improvement ranks significantly correlated with actual Y-BOCS improvement ranks at the 6-month follow-up (r = 0.75, p = .013). Predicted score improvements correlated with actual Y-BOCS score improvements (r = 0.72, p = .018).
Conclusions: Here, we provide data in a first-of-its-kind report suggesting that normative tractography-based modeling can blindly predict treatment response in DBS for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Keywords: Deep brain stimulation; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Outcome; Prediction; Tractography; White matter.
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