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Pharmacopsychiatry 2009; 42(6): 288-291
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1233489
Letter

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Successful Treatment of Chronic Resistant Alcoholism by Deep Brain Stimulation of Nucleus Accumbens: First Experience with Three Cases

U. J. Müller1 , V. Sturm2 , J. Voges3 , H.-J. Heinze4 , I. Galazky4 , M. Heldmann4 , H. Scheich5 , B. Bogerts1
  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
  • 2Department of Stereotaxy and Functional Neurosurgery, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
  • 3Department of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
  • 4Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
  • 5Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
Further Information

Publication History

received 23.06.2009 revised 30.06.2009

accepted 30.06.2009

Publication Date:
18 November 2009 (online)

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Treatment of alcohol dependence remains one of the biggest challenges in psychiatry, since only about half of all patients achieve long-term abstinence by the currently available therapies. Dysfunction of the nucleus accumbens, one of the main areas of the brain's reward system, seems to play a central role in addiction and treatment resistance. Following the recent advances of neuromodulation therapy by deep brain stimulation, we designed an off-label single patient study protocol to treat patients with severe and long-standing alcoholism in whom other treatment options had failed. We report here on the first three patients with alcoholism who received deep brain stimulation. In the one-year follow-up period, two remained abstinent, while one showed a remarkable reduction of days while drinking and none had any significant adverse effects.

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Correspondence

Prof. Dr. med. B. Bogerts

Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatische Medizin

Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg

Leipziger Straße 44

39120 Magdeburg

Germany

Phone: +49/391/671 5029

Fax: +49/391/671 5223

Email: bernhard.bogerts@med.ovgu.de

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