Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34602500›Full record

ArticleJournal of Parkinson's disease2022

Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy in Tremor Dominant Parkinson's Disease: Long-Term Results.

Alon Sinai, Maria Nassar, Elliot Sprecher, Marius Constantinescu, Menashe Zaaroor, Ilana Schlesinger

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of Parkinson's disease, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.2field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

33 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Focused Ultrasound for the Treatment of Circuit and Molecular Pathology in Parkinson's Disease.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2026
    Review
  4. Surgical Treatment of Tremor Syndromes: A Guide to the Clinician.Movement disorders clinical practice · 2026
    Review
  5. Advanced Therapeutics in Parkinson's Disease: What's New?Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Clinical neurophysiology in the treatment of movement disorders: IFCN handbook chapter.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Alon SinaiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
Maria NassarMovement Disorders Institute, Department of Neurology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
Elliot SprecherMovement Disorders Institute, Department of Neurology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
Marius ConstantinescuDepartment of Neurosurgery, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
Menashe ZaaroorDepartment of Neurosurgery, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
Ilana SchlesingerMovement Disorders Institute, Department of Neurology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
Rambam Health Care Campus · ILTechnion – Israel Institute of Technology · IL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMRI-guided focused ultrasound (FUS) has established short-term efficacy in tremor relief.

objectiveWe report our long-term experience of treating tremor with unilateral FUS unilateral VIM-thalamotomy in tremor dominant Parkinson's disease (TDPD) patients.

methodsWe report outcome of FUS thalamotomy in TDPD patients with 1-5 years of follow-up. OUTCOMES: tremor reduction assessed with Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor (CRST) and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS part III) overall and in the treated hemibody and safety.

resultsTwenty-six TDPD patients completed 1-5 years of follow-up (median follow-up 36 months, range 12-60 months). Median age was 60 years (range 46-79), with median disease duration of 6 years (range 2-16). Immediately, treatment resulted in 100%improvement in tremor in the treated arm in 23 patients and 90%improvement in 3 patients. In 15 patients with leg tremor, 2 patients with chin tremor and 1 patient with head tremor, tremor was significantly improved. Up to 5 years, median CRST score, median UPDRS score, overall and in treated hemibody, decreased significantly as compared with baseline (p < 0.0001). In 2 patients tremor returned completely and in 8 patients there was partial return of tremor. Adverse events were mild and resolved within 3 months. At baseline 4 patients were not receiving any medication vs. 3 at last follow-up and 15 were not taking levodopa vs.9 at last follow-up.

conclusionUnilateral FUS VIM-thalamotomy in TDPD patients was effective and safe and provided long-term tremor relief in most patients. FUS thalamotomy for tremor may delay initiation of levodopa treatment.

Indexed as

Essential TremorParkinson DiseaseAgedHumansLevodopaMiddle AgedThalamusTreatment OutcomeTremorLevodopaParkinson’s diseasesurgerytreatmenttremorultrasound

Identifiers

PMID34602500
PMCPMC8842770
OpenAlexW3204881650

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.