Long-term assessment of stereotactic dentatotomy for spasticity and other disorders.

In the 60's stereotactic electrocoagulation of the dentate nucleus became a promising approach in the neurosurgical treatment of muscular hypertonicity, particularly when spasticity was evident. A relatively satisfactory improvement of spasticity has been reported earlier as a result and the authors were supporting these clinical results in previous publications. A long-term assessment of the results obtained in a large series of patients would permit a better evaluation of the effect of the operation. Analysing 109 stereotactic electrocoagulations of the dentate nucleus on 50 patients mainly in cases of cerebral palsy over a period of more than 10 years (most patients underwent a bilateral dentatotomy), the authors give a more realistic appreciation of the results, which depend on the criteria chosen. In 30% of the cases a clear improvement in the spasticity was obtained, and in 50% of all cases, nursing and rehabilitation were facilitated. The stereotactic dentatotomy never completely cured the spasticity and spectacular results were never observed, but the operation can be performed without complications and an unexpected neurological deficit did not occur. The role of the stereotactic dentatotomy and other neurosurgical methods in the treatment of spasticity has to be evaluated more critically.