Trial reportNeurosurgery2021
Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation for Spasmodic Dysphonia: A Phase I Prospective Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Trial.
Trial report in Neurosurgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation for Spasmodic Dysphonia: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blinded, Sham-Controlled Trial
A Phase 2 Trial of Deep Brain Stimulation for Spasmodic Dysphonia
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Voice and Speech in Deep Brain Stimulation in Dystonia: A Retrospective Study, Systematic Review, and Meta-Analysis.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2026Pooled it
- Speech and Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease, Essential Tremor, and Dystonia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2026Pooled it
- Laryngeal dystonia: a comprehensive review of aetiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment approaches.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Review
- Disorders of the Basal Ganglia and Cerebellum: A Comprehensive Review of Speech Sensorimotor Symptoms and Responses to Feedback Perturbations.Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Review
- Spasmodic Dysphonia.World journal of otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery · 2025Review
- Somato-Cognitive Action Network in Focal Dystonia.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025Article
- Deep Brain Stimulation for VPS16-Related Dystonia: A Multicenter Study.Annals of neurology · 2025Observational
- Frequent vocalizations and deep brain stimulation-responsive hyperkinesia in a striatal disinhibition rat model for Tourette syndrome.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Alternative Deep Brain Stimulation Targets in the Treatment of Isolated Dystonic Syndromes: A Multicenter Experience-Based Survey.Movement disorders clinical practice · 2025Article
- Is thalamic deep brain stimulation the right target to improve laryngeal dystonia symptoms?Dystonia (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Intensive Voice Treatment following Botulinum Neurotoxin Injection for a Speaker with Abductor Laryngeal Dystonia: An Exploratory Case Study.Seminars in speech and language · 2024Article
- Review
- Interventional neurorehabilitation for promoting functional recovery post-craniotomy: a proof-of-concept.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Effects of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in adductor laryngeal dystonia: a safety, feasibility, and pilot study.Experimental brain research · 2022Article
- Response to Thalamic Ventralis Intermedius Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation in Essential Tremor vs. Essential Tremor-Plus.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAdductor spasmodic dysphonia (SD) is a dystonia of the vocal folds causing difficulty with speech. The current standard of care is repeated botulinum toxin injections to weaken the adductor muscles. We sought to ameliorate the underlying neurological cause of SD with a novel therapy-deep brain stimulation (DBS).
objectiveTo assess the safety of DBS in SD through phase I trial, and to quantify the magnitude of any benefit.
methodsSix patients had left ventral intermediate nucleus (Vim) thalamic DBS and were randomized to 3 mo blinded-DBS "on" or "off" followed by a crossover. Primary outcomes were quality of life and quality of voice during the blinded phase. Patients continued with open-DBS "on." Secondary outcomes were comparisons of pre- and 1-yr cognitive, mood, and quality of life. This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02558634).
resultsThere were no complications. Every patient reported an improvement in quality of life (P = .07) and had an improvement in quality of their voice (P = .06) when their blinded DBS was "on" versus "off." The trend did not reach statistical significance with the small sample size. Secondary outcomes showed no difference in cognition, an improvement in mood, and quality of life at 1 yr.
conclusionThis phase I randomized controlled trial confirmed that DBS can be performed safely in patients with SD. Blinded DBS produced a strong trend toward improved quality of life and objective quality of voice despite the small sample size. The cerebellar circuit, not the pallidal circuit, appears to be crucial for motor control of the vocal folds.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.