Elucidating the Temporality of Structural and Functional Connectivity Changes in Essential Tremor After Successful Deep Brain Stimulation to the Dentato-rubro-thalamic Tract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the structural connectivity of the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRTt) and to detect functional network changes due to DRTt stimulation

Condition

  • Essential Tremor

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 18 Years and 85 Years
Eligible Genders
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  • the diagnosis of Essential Tremor, made by a movement disorder neurologist, where tremor is not secondary to any disease process or traumatic insult - distal appendicular tremor, with minimal proximal component - tremor refractory to multiple medication regimens and/or where the medications cause intolerable side effects - tremor judged to be severely impacting their quality of life.

Exclusion Criteria

  • significant neurological disorder - significant dementia or neurocognitive limitations as assessed by neuropsychiatry (when necessary) - severe psychiatric illness with suicidal ideations - previous surgery to destroy the target region of the brain - surgical contraindications to DBS - current major medical problems that affect brain anatomy,neurochemistry, or function, e.g., liver insufficiency, kidney insufficiency, cardiovascular problems, systemic infections, cancer, hypothyroidism, auto-immune diseases, and any current of history of brain disorder (seizure disorder, stroke, dementia, meningitis, encephalitis, degenerative neurologic diseases and head injury with loss of consciousness for any period of time) - family history of hereditary neurologic disorder, besides essential tremors ET - floating metallic objects in the body - pregnancy - alcohol or substance abuse/dependence in the past 6 months.

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
N/A
Intervention Model
Single Group Assignment
Primary Purpose
Basic Science
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Deep Brain Stimulation(DBS)
  • Device: Deep Brain Stimulation
    Medtronic Activa device will be implanted and administered clinically, except as part of the trial after 24 months of DBS being on it will be turned off for 3 days and will be turned back on.

Recruiting Locations

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Houston, Texas 77030
Contact:
Robert Ritter III
713-500-8914
Robert.Ritter@uth.tmc.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Northwell Health

Study Contact

Robert Ritter III
713-500-8914
Robert.Ritter@uth.tmc.edu