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Strategies to mitigate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients treated with deep brain stimulation

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, 160,000 patients worldwide who have undergone deep brain stimulation (DBS) are now experiencing critical treatment disruptions. These include patients treated for Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, epilepsy and essential tremor as well as for psychiatric disorders, like treatment-resistant obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome. With many hospitals overburdened [1] and the potential for community-based infection still high (and increasing), shifting to various forms of telemedicine DBS care has become part of a necessary “natural experiment” to mitigate risk for infection and continue care throughout the pandemic.

Source: Brain stimulation

DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2020.09.023