Unilateral MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy thalamotomy for refractory multiple sclerosis tremor: 12-month outcomes in four patients
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Tremor affects many people with multiple sclerosis (MS), is frequently disabling and responds poorly to medication. Deep brain stimulation, gamma-knife radiosurgery and MR-guided focused ultrasound are options, but each has constraints. MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (MRgLITT) is a hardware-free stereotactic thalamotomy providing real-time thermometry, its role in MS tremor is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To describe 12-month clinical, safety and imaging outcomes after unilateral MRgLITT thalamotomy for refractory MS tremor. METHODS: Single-centre, consecutive case series of four patients with medically refractory MS tremor who underwent robot-assisted unilateral MRgLITT thalamotomy. The primary outcome was the treated-limb Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale (FTM-TRS) at 12 months, scored from standardized videos by a blinded neurologist. Secondary outcomes were patient-reported tremor severity, tremor-related quality of life, adverse events, cognition, mood and MRI lesion characteristics. Analyses were descriptive. RESULTS: The cohort comprised three secondary-progressive and one relapsing-remitting patient (median EDSS 5.5; median tremor duration 15.5 years). The mean treated-limb FTM-TRS score fell from 15.8 to 5.5 at 12 months (mean per-patient reduction 65.7%, range 41.2-80.0%). Quality of life improved in three of four patients. Acute adverse events occurred in two patients (transient gait ataxia; transient hemiparesis with dysarthria), both resolving by 3 months, none persisting at 12 months. Cognitive decline in one patient and mood deterioration in two, the causes of these changes remain uncertain. CONCLUSION: Unilateral MRgLITT thalamotomy was feasible and produced meaningful, largely sustained tremor reduction within a narrow therapeutic window. Larger controlled studies are required to establish efficacy, durability, safety and function.
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BibTeX
@article{aubignat2026unilateral,
title = {{Unilateral MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy thalamotomy for refractory multiple sclerosis tremor: 12-month outcomes in four patients}},
author = {Mickael Aubignat and Mélissa Tir and Martial Ouendo and Ines Masmoudi and Simone Chen and Abdullatif Al Khedr and Jean-Marc Constans and Michel Lefranc},
journal = {Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.msard.2026.107966},
url = {https://u-picardie.hal.science/hal-05785707v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Unilateral MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy thalamotomy for refractory multiple sclerosis tremor: 12-month outcomes in four patients
AU - Mickael Aubignat
AU - Mélissa Tir
AU - Martial Ouendo
AU - Ines Masmoudi
AU - Simone Chen
AU - Abdullatif Al Khedr
AU - Jean-Marc Constans
AU - Michel Lefranc
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
JO - Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders
DO - 10.1016/j.msard.2026.107966
UR - https://u-picardie.hal.science/hal-05785707v1
AB - BACKGROUND: Tremor affects many people with multiple sclerosis (MS), is frequently disabling and responds poorly to medication. Deep brain stimulation, gamma-knife radiosurgery and MR-guided focused ultrasound are options, but each has constraints. MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (MRgLITT) is a hardware-free stereotactic thalamotomy providing real-time thermometry, its role in MS tremor is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To describe 12-month clinical, safety and imaging outcomes after unilateral MRgLITT thalamotomy for refractory MS tremor. METHODS: Single-centre, consecutive case series of four patients with medically refractory MS tremor who underwent robot-assisted unilateral MRgLITT thalamotomy. The primary outcome was the treated-limb Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale (FTM-TRS) at 12 months, scored from standardized videos by a blinded neurologist. Secondary outcomes were patient-reported tremor severity, tremor-related quality of life, adverse events, cognition, mood and MRI lesion characteristics. Analyses were descriptive. RESULTS: The cohort comprised three secondary-progressive and one relapsing-remitting patient (median EDSS 5.5; median tremor duration 15.5 years). The mean treated-limb FTM-TRS score fell from 15.8 to 5.5 at 12 months (mean per-patient reduction 65.7%, range 41.2-80.0%). Quality of life improved in three of four patients. Acute adverse events occurred in two patients (transient gait ataxia; transient hemiparesis with dysarthria), both resolving by 3 months, none persisting at 12 months. Cognitive decline in one patient and mood deterioration in two, the causes of these changes remain uncertain. CONCLUSION: Unilateral MRgLITT thalamotomy was feasible and produced meaningful, largely sustained tremor reduction within a narrow therapeutic window. Larger controlled studies are required to establish efficacy, durability, safety and function.
SN - 2211-0356
SN - 2211-0348
ER -