NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Electrical stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus reduced symptoms and improved function in patients with severe, refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during a trial conducted in France. However, the investigators note, treatment was associated with a substantial risk of serious adverse events.

In patients with movement disorders, subthalamic nucleus stimulation was effective “in reducing repetitive behaviors, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and OCD,” Dr. Luc Mallet, at Pitie-Salpetriere University Hospital in Paris, and colleagues note in the New England Journal of Medicine for November 13.

Their randomized, double-blind, crossover study included 16 patients (mean duration of disease 18 years). All had failed multiple drug trials and extended cognitive-behavioral therapy.

The study design consisted of an active treatment phase and a sham treatment phase in random order, both 3 months long, separated by a 1-month washout period. The electrode target was “at the boundary of the associative and limbic territories of the subthalamic nucleus.” Stimulation frequency was 130 Hz, and pulse duration was 60