Is There a Relationship between Size and Site of the Stereotactic Lesion and Symptomatic Results of Pallidotomy and Thalamotomy?

Forty-six patients who had 50 stereotactic procedures (36 pallidotomies and 14 thalamotomies) were assessed clinically with regard to akinesia, tremor, dyskinesias and dystonias, and underwent a stereotactic imaging study 6 months after surgery. The surgical results were rated as excellent, good/fair or no change, respectively, for each symptom, and were correlated to the volume and location of the stereotactic lesion. The effect of pallidotomy on akinesia was moderate and correlated with a larger lesion volume. The positive effect of pallidotomy on dyskinesias, dystonia and tremor was more pronounced and unrelated to the size of the lesion. The effect of thalamotomy on tremor was also unrelated to the lesion volume. The location of the pallidal lesions correlated only with the effect on akinesia: the more posterior the lesion in the pallidum, the better the effect on this symptom. For thalamotomy, there was no relationship between lesion location and effect on tremor. It is concluded that improvement in akinesia following pallidotomy is more difficult to obtain than improvement of the other parkinsonian symptoms, and this improvement requires a larger lesion which is located very posterior in the ventral pallidum.