
Moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) often results in persistent clinical impairment post-injury. The Central Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury using the Medtronic PC + S (CENTURY-S) trial demonstrated that deep brain stimulation (DBS) could be safely applied. After three months of treatment, all participants scored higher on a standard executive function test.
A new study from Dr. Linda Gerber, professor of population health sciences, and colleagues, supports and expands on the results of that trial. In NeuroRehabilitation, the team presents a secondary qualitative data analysis of semi-structured interviews with subjects participating in the CENTURY-S trial and their family members. The previous narrative analysis conducted before and after stimulation with subjects and their family members described improvements in cognitive function as well as behavioral and emotional recovery.¹ ² This current study provides an aggregate symptom assessment by symptom domain, both before and after stimulation.
“Our findings reveal that providing the voices and recollections of study participants and their family members enriches results traditionally obtained from clinical trials,” explained Dr. Gerber. Results indicate that participants experienced improved executive function after DBS, with four reporting improved memory, attention, and focus. Some subjects also reported improvements in self-regulation and fatigue. Altogether, interviews revealed that brain injury caused disruptions to the subjects’ personal identity, and DBS helped restore it. Per Dr. Gerber, "This study supports the incorporation of qualitative data as additional outcome measures in studies of deep brain stimulation in traumatic brain injury.”
References
¹Fins J. J., Wright M. S., Henderson J. M., Schiff N. D. (2022). Subject and family perspectives from the central thalamic deep brain stimulation for traumatic brain injury study: Part I. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 31(4), 419–443. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180122000226²Fins J. J., Wright M. S., Shulman K. S., Henderson J. M., Schiff N. D. (2023). Subject and family perspectives from the central thalamic deep brain stimulation trial for traumatic brain injury: Part II. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180123000518
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