Schematic table displaying the published data of caudal zona incerta/posterior subthalamic area deep brain stimulation for essential tremor
| Author | Patients/procedures | Follow-up (months) (mean (range)) | Target | Side effects / complications | Results |
| Kitagawa 20006 | 1 unilateral | – | See Murata 2003 | None reported | ‘Abolition’ of tremor |
| Murata 20039 | 8 unilateral* | 23 (8–42) | Approx 10 mm lat, 3–4 mm behind the posterior border of STN on the axial slice with the greatest STN diameter. Active contacts (mm): 11 lat, 7.5 post MCP, 4 inferior to the ICL | Only stimulation induced that did not affect the result | Contralateral tremor improved by 81% |
| Plaha 200412 | 4 bilateral | 12 | Medial to the posterior dorsal third of the STN | None reported | Total ETRS improved by 80%. FMS improved 75.2% |
| Plaha 200810 | 6 bilateral | 12 | Posterior–medial to the posterior–dorsal STN | Not specified for the ET patients in this study | Total ETRS improved by 75.9% |
| Blomstedt 201011 | 19 unilateral, 2 bilateral | 12 | Posterior–medial to the STN at the level of the maximal diameter of the red nucleus. Active contacts (mm): 11.6 lat, 6.3 post MCP, 3.0 inferior to the ICL | 8 Transient dysphasia and 1 clumsiness. 1 suboptimal effect due to side effects. 3 hardware related | ETRS improved 60%. Upper extremity tremor (item 5/6) 95%. Hand function (items 11–14) 87% |
| Plaha 20115 | 15 bilateral† | 32 (12–84) | Posterior–medial to the posterior–dorsal STN | 3 stimulation related dysarthria. 1 infection | ETRS improved 74%, FMS 73.5% |
| Fytagoridis 2011 | 16 unilateral, 2 bilateral‡ | 48.5 (34–62) | See Blomstedt 2010. Active contacts (mm): 12.0 lat, 6.3 post MCP, 2.2 inferior to the ICL | 1 hardware related | ETRS 52%. Tremor (item 5/6) 92%. Hand function 78% |
FMS=category used by Plaha et al: upper limb action and postural tremor combined with items 10–14 (hand function and writing).
↵* One patient was previously presented in Kitagawa 2000.
↵† Six patients were previously reported in Plaha 2008.
↵‡ Long term follow-up of patients from Blomstedt et al 2010.
cZi, caudal zona incerta; DBS, deep brain stimulation; ET, essential tremor; ETRS, Essential Tremor Rating Scale; FMS, functional motor score; ICL, intercommissural line; lat, lateral; MCP, midcommissural point; PSA, posterior subthalamic area; STN, nucleus subthalamicus.