A Review of Deep Brain Stimulation effect on Cluster Headaches

Cluster headache affects patients’ quality of life significantly. This condition being characterized as a primary headache disorder which affects up ۱۲۴ in ۱۰۰,۰۰۰ individuals during their lifetime While there are current therapeutic modalities for cluster headaches, recent advances showed the beneficial role of Deep Brain Stimulation in treatment of chronic refractory cluster headaches. Deep brain stimulation procedure has been used for various neurological condition such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia. This procedure is being done while patients is being awake with the help of stereotactic localizing system. After penetrating the skull, lead extension and pulse generator are implanted with the help of magnetic resonance imaging and programmed using a transdermal implant Deep brain stimulation of hypothalamus and midbrain area could be the possible solution for chronic refractory cluster headache patients to relief and improve their quality of lives. Deep brain stimulation could provide relief for patients suffering from chronic refractory cluster headaches. By using the targeted neuromodulation of a network around hypothalamic and midbrain neural substrates, Deep brain stimulation is able to generate short- and long-term pain-relief in a large majority of patients. With minimum side effects being reported until now, Deep brain stimulation could be applied in selected cases.  

Keywords:

Deep Brain Stimulation , Cluster Headaches , Neuromodulation , Headache