J08 Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the globus pallidus (GP) in huntington’s disease (HD): a prospective, randomised, controlled, international, multi-centre study (HD-DBS)

Deep brain stimulation is an approved treatment for several neurodegenerative disorders but not for Huntington’s Disease. Because of the striking effects of pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS) on choreodystonic movements induced by L-dopa in Parkinson’s disease and on dystonic symptoms, DBS of the GPi has recently been applied to a few single cases of HD. These off-label case studies report significant improvements of medically intractable chorea. Our previous randomised prospective pilot trial on 6 HD patients confirms the beneficial effects of pallidal stimulation on choreodystonic symptoms and suggests the optimal target site in the Globus pallidus to be at the GPi/GPe border zone rather than targeting the GPi alone.