Objectives To study the efficacy and safety of bilateral globus pallidus internus deep brain stimulation (GPi-DBS) in refractory Meige syndrome (MS) and evaluate the psychiatric disorders before and after surgery. Methods Twenty-two patients with MS treated with bilateral GPi-DBS were retrospectively analysed before surgery and after continuous neurostimulation. Before surgery, patients were assessed by the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS), Self-Rating Depression Scale, Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form General Health Survey (SF-36) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PQSI), which corresponded to motor symptoms, depressive state, quality of life and sleep quality, respectively. The implantable pulse generator of each patient was activated at 1 month after surgery. At 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after continuous neurostimulation, all patients were evaluated by the same scales above. Results The BFMDRS movement scores decreased from 15.0±5.3 before surgery to 3.5±4.5 at 12 months after neurostimulation, with a mean improvement of 78% (p<0.001). The BFMDRS disability scores improved from 7.4±4.9 before surgery to 4.0±4.6 at 12 months after neurostimulation, with a mean improvement of 56% (p<0.001). The postoperative SF-36 scores had the remarkable improvement compared with baseline scores. Impaired sleep quality was found in 82% of patients and depression in 64% before surgery, which didn’t neither obtained amelioration after continuous neurostimulation. Conclusions Bilateral pallidal neurostimulation is a beneficial therapeutic option for refractory MS, which could improve the motor symptoms except for depression and sleep quality.

Objective: To explore the clinical characteristics of patients with recurrent trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and the experience of microvascular decompression (MVD) in the treatment of such patients.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data, imaging examination results, surgical methods, and treatment efficacies in 127 patients with recurrent typical TN from January 2005 to December 2014.Results: The age of the recurrent group was higher than that of the non-recurrent group (p < 0.05). The duration of pain before the first MVD procedure was longer in the recurrent group than in the non-recurrent group (p < 0.05). Patients in the recurrent group were more likely to have compression of the trigeminal nerve by the vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) or multiple vessels than patients in the non-recurrent group (p < 0.05). A Kaplan–Meier curve showed a median pain-free survival of 12 months after the first MVD procedure. The severity of pain (preoperative visual analog scale [VAS] score) in patients with recurrence was lower than that in patients with first-onset TN (p < 0.05). Vessel compression, Teflon compression or granuloma and arachnoid adhesion were considered the main causes of recurrence. Postoperative Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) scores in the redo MVD group were excellent (T = 2) for 69 patients (53.33%) and good (T = 3) for 46 patients (36.22%). The postoperative follow-up was 63–167 months (105.92 ± 25.66). During the follow-up, no recurrence was noted. All complications were cured or improved.Conclusions: Microvascular decompression (MVD) is an effective surgical method for the treatment of TN. For recurrent patients, reoperation can achieve good results.

Deep-brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for patients with Meige syndrome. The globus pallidus interna (GPi) and the subthalamic nucleus (STN) are accepted targets for this treatment. We compared 12-month outcomes for patients who had undergone bilateral stimulation of the GPi or STN. Forty-two Asian patients with primary Meige syndrome who underwent GPi or STN neurostimulation were recruited between September 2017 and September 2019 at the Department of Neurosurgery, Peking University People’s Hospital. The primary outcome was the change in motor function, including the Burke–Fahn–Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale movement (BFMDRS-M) and disability subscale (BFMDRS-D) at 3 days before DBS (baseline) surgery and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Secondary outcomes included health-related quality of life, sleep quality status, depression severity, and anxiety severity at 3 days before and 12 months after DBS surgery. Adverse events during the 12 months were also recorded. Changes in BFMDRS-M and BFMDRS-D scores at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months with DBS and without medication did not significantly differ based on the stimulation target. There were also no significant differences in the changes in health-related quality of life (36-Item Short-Form General Health Survey) and sleep quality status (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) at 12 months. However, there were larger improvements in the STN than the GPi group in mean score changes on the 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale (− 3.38 vs. − 0.33 points; P = 0.014) and 14-item Hamilton anxiety rating scale (− 3.43 vs. − 0.19 points; P < 0.001). There were no significant between-group differences in the frequency or type of serious adverse events. Patients with Meige syndrome had similar improvements in motor function, quality of life and sleep after either pallidal or subthalamic stimulation. Depression and anxiety factors may reasonably be included during the selection of DBS targets for Meige syndrome.

To investigate the changes and clinical significance of brain structural abnormalities in patients with Meige syndrome and related depressive symptoms. We retrospectively analysed clinical data, imaging examinations, and Hamilton Depression Rating scale scores in 46 patients with Meige syndrome from January 2017 to January 2019. We compared the Meige syndrome group with the healthy control group, and the definite depression group with the non-definite depression group. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to compare grey matter (GM) volumes. We conducted two-sample t-tests corrected for subject age and gender. We tested at a level of significance of p < 0.001 with a false discovery rate (FDR) correction. VBM demonstrated decreased GM volume (p < 0.001 and cluster size > 50 voxels) in the left hemisphere in the middle frontal orbital gyrus, temporal pole (superior temporal gyrus) and insula and in the right hemisphere in the temporal pole (middle temporal gyrus), precuneus, inferior parietal, inferior temporal and olfactory cortices in the Meige syndrome group. Comparing VBM-MRI measures in Meige syndrome patients with and without depression, decreased GM volume was found in the left hemisphere in the cuneus and hippocampus and in the right hemisphere in the angular gyrus, middle frontal gyrus and middle occipital gyrus in the definite depression group. Unlike other dystonia studies that have suggested an involvement of the basal ganglia and motor cortex in the pathophysiology of the disorder , we believe that the precuneus is involved in the development of Meige syndrome. Additionally, our findings suggest that the hippocampus plays a role in the pathogenesis of depression in patients with Meige syndrome.