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Remission of alcohol dependency following deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens: valuable therapeutic implications?

Kuhn J, Lenartz D, Huff W, Lee S, Koulousakis A, Klosterkoetter J, Sturm V

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Kerpener Strasse 62, 50924 Cologne, Germany. Jens.Kuhn@uk-koeln.de

Chronic consumption of alcohol represents one of the greatest health and socioeconomic problems worldwide. We report on a 54-year-old patient with a severe anxiety disorder and secondary depressive disorder in whom bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus accumbens was carried out. Despite the absence of desired improvement in his primary disorder, we observed a remarkable although not primarily intended alleviation of the patient's comorbid alcohol dependency. Our case report demonstrates the extremely effective treatment of alcohol dependency by means of DBS of the nucleus accumbens and may reveal new prospects in overcoming therapy resistance in dependencies in general.

Published 19 September 2007 in J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 78(10): 1152-3.
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