Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35148020›Full record

Trial reportAnnals of neurology2022

Deep Brain Stimulation for Arm Tremor: A Randomized Trial Comparing Two Targets.

Nadja Kvernmo, Ane E Konglund, Martin M Reich, Jonas Roothans, Are H Pripp, Espen Dietrichs, Jens Volkmann, Inger Marie Skogseid

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Annals of neurology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 5% 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

26 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Neuroimaging in Tremor.Seminars in neurology · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Probabilistic mapping of tremor control and gait ataxia risk in deep brain stimulation.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026
    Article
  7. Surgical Treatment of Tremor Syndromes: A Guide to the Clinician.Movement disorders clinical practice · 2026
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Rescue Thalamotomy for Habituation to Deep Brain Stimulation in Essential Tremor: Case Report.Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.) · 2026
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. The role of the motor thalamus in deep brain stimulation for essential tremor.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2024
    Review
  17. Coupled Activation of the Hyperdirect and Cerebellothalamic Pathways with Zona Incerta Deep Brain Stimulation.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2024
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
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

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Nadja KvernmoDepartment of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Ane E KonglundDepartment of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Martin M ReichDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.
Jonas RoothansVisual DBS lab, University Hospital of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.
Are H PrippDepartment of Biostatistics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Espen DietrichsDepartment of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Jens VolkmannDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.
Inger Marie SkogseidDepartment of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-7811-927X
Oslo University Hospital · NOUniversitätsklinikum Würzburg · DEUniversity of Würzburg · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveDeep brain stimulation (DBS) of the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) effectively suppresses arm tremor. Uncontrolled studies suggest the posterior subthalamic area (PSA) may be superior. We compared the intra-individual efficacy of VIM- versus PSA-DBS on tremor suppression and arm function.

methodsWe performed a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial at Oslo University Hospital in patients (18-80 years) with isolated or combined action tremor affecting at least one arm. Four-contact DBS leads were implanted (bi- or unilaterally) with a trajectory to cover the VIM (upper two contacts) and PSA (lower two contacts). Patients were randomized (1:1 ratio) post-surgery to: Group 1, VIM-stimulation months 0-3 (period 1), then PSA-stimulation months 4-6 (period 2); Group 2, PSA-stimulation first, then VIM-stimulation. Primary endpoint was the difference in improvement from baseline to the end of the VIM- versus PSA-period in the sum of the dominant arm tremor scores of the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale (FTMTRS), items 5/6 + 10-14.

resultsForty-five patients were randomized to Group 1 (n = 23) or 2 (n = 22). In the primary endpoint per-protocol analysis (mixed model, n = 40), mean difference in the sum FTMTRS score improvement for the dominant arm was -2.65 points (95% CI -4.33 to -0.97; p = 0.002). The difference in favour of PSA stimulation was highly significant in period 2, but not period 1.

interpretationOur randomized trial demonstrated that PSA stimulation provided superior tremor suppression compared with VIM stimulation. A period effect reducing tremor for up to three months in both groups was most likely attributed to a post-surgery stun effect. ANN NEUROL 2022;91:585-601.

Indexed as

Deep Brain StimulationEssential TremorSubthalamic NucleusHumansMaleProstate-Specific AntigenTreatment OutcomeTremorProstate-Specific Antigen

Identifiers

PMID35148020
PMCPMC9311445
OpenAlexW4211040466

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.