Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40239639›Full record

SynthesisStereotactic and functional neurosurgery2025

Literature Review on Lesion-Symptom Mapping and Deep Brain Stimulation for Poststroke Spasticity: Restoring a Dysfunctional Network?

Lucien Favre, David Zhang, Claudio Pollo, Andreas Nowacki

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

4 authors.

Lucien FavreDepartment of Neurosurgery, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
David ZhangDepartment of Spine Surgery, Spitalzentrum Centre Hospitalier Biel/Bienne, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.
Claudio PolloDepartment of Neurosurgery, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Andreas NowackiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe present study aimed to define a structural network of stroke-induced and spasticity-related lesions and to relate this network to target sites and reported effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat poststroke spasticity.

methodsThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed (online suppl. Table 2). We performed two separate systematic literature reviews, collecting data from previously published voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) studies for poststroke spasticity patients searching the Medline database on Pubmed using the keywords "stroke," "spasticity," and "lesion mapping" as well as data from previously published cohorts undergoing DBS for poststroke spasticity using the keywords "brain stimulation" and "spasticity." Data collected from each study included patient demographic characteristics, stroke diagnosis, movement disorder, DBS target, stimulation parameters, complications, and outcomes. Data from VLSM studies were used to calculate coordinate-based activation likelihood clusters, which were then used as seeds for enhanced fiber tracking to analyze affected networks.

resultsData from five studies on voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping for stroke-induced spasticity were included in the analysis. Meta-analytical mapping of stroke-related lesions identified significant clusters located in the basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical network which were predominantly connected to the sensorimotor cortex. We identified eight studies (four retrospective case series, two prospective open-label non-randomized trials, and two prospective double-blind trials) fulfilling our inclusion and exclusion criteria on DBS for spasticity reporting on 107 patients in total. Most studies reported outcomes in patients with cerebral palsy, a condition associated with both stroke-related spasticity and hypertonia-related dystonia, which are difficult to differentiate clinically. Target sites included different parts of the cerebellum and the motor thalamus with overall mixed results.

conclusionBecause all reported effective DBS target sites are situated along the cerebello-thalamo-cortical network, we hypothesize that the therapeutic effect of DBS on spasticity might be induced by resetting a functional imbalance between the basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical and the cerebello-thalamo-cortical networks in patients with a supraspinal etiology of spasticity. However, the results need to be interpreted cautiously due to the inevitable inclusion of stroke-related dystonia.

Indexed as

Brain MappingDeep Brain StimulationMuscle SpasticityStrokeHumansBrain lesionsBrain mappingDeep brain stimulationSpasticitySystematic review of the literature

Identifiers

PMID40239639
PMCPMC12083951

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Registered trials

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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.