Objective: We investigated the effect of focused ultrasound Vo-thalamotomy for musician’s dystonia.

Background: Lesioning of the ventro-oral nucleus (Vo-thalamotomy) is an effective treatment for musician’s dystonia. Gamma knife Vo-thalamotomy has already reported as a less invasive treatment for musician’s dystonia. However, focused ultrasound Vo-thalamotomy has yet to be reported.

Methods: Focused ultrasound Vo-thalamotomy was used for musician’s dystonia. Evaluation procedure was Tubiana’s musician’s dystonia scale (1-5) at before, 1 day and 1 month after the surgery.

Results: The patient is a 35-year-old man with classic guitar player with involuntary flexion of right 2^nd and 3^rd fingers only while playing a guitar which started from 26 years of age. At the age of 29, these symptoms also developed in using a keyboard. He underwent focused ultrasound Vo-thalamotomy at the age of 35. Tubiana’s musician’s dystonia scale at before, 1 day and 1 month after the surgery were 1, 4, and 5, respectively. No adverse effects were observed.

Conclusions: Focused ultrasound Vo-thalamotomy can be an effective procedure for musician’s dystonia.

References: Horisawa, S., Taira, T., Goto, S., Ochiai, T., & Nakajima, T. (2013). Long‐term improvement of musician’s dystonia after stereotactic ventro‐oral thalamotomy. Annals of neurology, 74(5), 648-654.

Horisawa, S., Tamura, N., Hayashi, M., Matsuoka, A., Hanada, T., Kawamata, T., & Taira, T. (2016). Gamma Knife Ventro‐Oral Thalamotomy for Musician’s Dystonia. Movement Disorders.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/focused-ultrasoud-ventro-oral-thalamotomy-for-musicians-dystonia/