Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39904782›Full record

SynthesisActa neurochirurgica2025

Deep brain stimulation of the hypothalamic region: a systematic review.

Mohammad Mofatteh, Abdulkadir Mohamed, Mohammad Sadegh Mashayekhi, Georgios P Skandalakis, Clemens Neudorfer, Saman Arfaie, ArunSundar MohanaSundaram, Mohammadmahdi Sabahi, Ayush Anand, Rabii Aboulhosn and 3 more

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Acta neurochirurgica, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
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  5. Review
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Mohammad MofattehSchool of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7BL, UK. mmofatteh01@qub.ac.uk.
Abdulkadir MohamedMedical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Mohammad Sadegh MashayekhiFaculty of Medicine, Division of Neurosurgery, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Georgios P SkandalakisDepartment of Neurosurgery, Evangelismos General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Clemens NeudorferBrain Modulation Lab, Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Saman ArfaieDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
ArunSundar MohanaSundaramSchool of Pharmacy, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
Mohammadmahdi SabahiDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Pauline Braathen Neurological Center, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, FL, USA.
Ayush AnandKoirala Institute of Health Sciences, B. P, Dharan, Nepal.
Rabii AboulhosnSchool of Medicine, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Xuxing LiaoDepartment of Neurosurgery, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China.
Andreas HornMovement Disorder and Neuromodulation Unit, Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Keyoumars AshkanNeuro International Collaboration (NIC), London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDeep brain stimulation (DBS) has been successfully used for the treatment of circuitopathies including movement, anxiety, and behavioral disorders. The hypothalamus is a crucial integration center for many peripheral and central pathways relating to cardiovascular, metabolic, and behavioral functions and constitutes a potential target for neuromodulation in treatment-refractory conditions. To conduct a systematic review, investigating hypothalamic targets in DBS, their indications, and the primary clinical findings.

methodsPubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched in accordance with the PRISMA guideline to identify papers published in English studying DBS of the hypothalamus in humans.

resultsAfter screening 3,148 papers, 34 studies consisting of 412 patients published over two decades were included in the final review. Hypothalamic DBS was indicated in refractory headaches (n = 238, 57.8%), aggressive behavior (n = 100, 24.3%), mild Alzheimer's disease (n = 58, 14.1%), trigeminal neuralgia in multiple sclerosis (n = 5, 1.2%), Prader-Willi syndrome (n = 4, 0.97%), and atypical facial pain (n = 3, 0.73%). The posterior hypothalamus was the most common DBS target site across 30 studies (88.2%). 262 (63.6%) participants were males, and 110 (26.7%) were females. 303 (73.5%) patients were adults whereas 33 (8.0%) were pediatrics. The lowest mean age of participants was 15.25 ± 4.6 years for chronic refractory aggressiveness, and the highest was 68.5 ± 7.9 years in Alzheimer's disease patients. The mean duration of the disease ranged from 2.2 ± 1.7 (mild Alzheimer's disease) to 19.8 ± 10.1 years (refractory headaches). 213 (51.7%) patients across 29 studies (85.3%) reported symptom improvements which ranged from 23.1% to 100%. 25 (73.5%) studies reported complications, most of which were associated with higher voltage stimulations.

conclusionsDBS of the hypothalamus is feasible in selected patients with various refractory conditions ranging from headaches to aggression in both pediatric and adult populations. Future large-scale studies with long-term follow-up are required to validate the safety and efficacy data and extend these findings.

Indexed as

Deep Brain StimulationHypothalamusHumansAggressionDBSDeep brain stimulationHypothalamic nucleiHypothalamusRefractory headaches

Identifiers

PMID39904782
PMCPMC11794333

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.