Stereotactic Radiosurgical Capsulotomy for the Treatment of Refractory Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Surgical interventions for psychiatric disorders are as old as the field of stereotactic neurosurgery. Indeed, the first stereotactic neurosurgical procedures in humans, performed in the late 1940s, were for psychiatric indications (1). Thermocoagulation probes were introduced through small incisions and burr holes using coordinates determined from ventricular anatomy visualized using pneumoencephalography. These early procedures created targeted lesions in gray matter structures (e.g., the thalamic nuclei in thalamotomy) or white matter connections between them (e.g., the anterior limb of the internal capsule [ALIC] in capsulotomy).

Source: Biological Psychiatry - August 13, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Sameer A. Sheth Tags: Commentary Source Type: research