Obsessive-compulsive disorder and ventromedial frontal lesions: clinical and neuropsychological findings

TY - JOUR

T1 - Obsessive-compulsive disorder and ventromedial frontal lesions

T2 - clinical and neuropsychological findings

AU - Irle, E

AU - Exner, C

AU - Thielen, K

AU - Weniger, G

AU - Rüther, E

AU - Thielen, Karsten

PY - 1998/2

Y1 - 1998/2

N2 - OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to determine the long-term outcome of subjects with severe and refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who had undergone ventromedial frontal leukotomy during the 1970s. Special emphasis was given to the analysis of specific lesion sites.METHOD: Sixteen OCD subjects who had undergone ventromedial frontal leukotomy were evaluated clinically and neuropsychologically and compared to seven well comparison OCD subjects without leukotomy. The 16 leukotomized subjects were divided into three groups according to the main lesion sites as determined by current magnetic resonance imaging scans.RESULTS: The leukotomized OCD subjects showed significant improvement of obsessive-compulsive symptoms; subjects with frontostriatal lesions tended to have improved most. The subjects with combined diagnoses of OCD and obsessive personality disorder (N = 3) had improved significantly less. Of 11 subjects with lesions of the ventral striatum, eight had developed substance dependence postoperatively. Intellectual functions were largely preserved in subjects with ventromedial frontal lesions only or frontostriatal lesions. However, all subjects showed subnormal performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Subjects with lesions of the dorsolateral frontal convexity also showed memory problems, attentional slowing, and lower performance IQ.CONCLUSIONS: Restricted ventromedial frontal leukotomy should be discussed as a last-resort treatment for severe and refractory OCD but not obsessive personality disorder. Lesions of the ventral striatum were significantly related to the occurrence of substance dependence, suggesting a role of this area in human addictive behavior.

AB - OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to determine the long-term outcome of subjects with severe and refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who had undergone ventromedial frontal leukotomy during the 1970s. Special emphasis was given to the analysis of specific lesion sites.METHOD: Sixteen OCD subjects who had undergone ventromedial frontal leukotomy were evaluated clinically and neuropsychologically and compared to seven well comparison OCD subjects without leukotomy. The 16 leukotomized subjects were divided into three groups according to the main lesion sites as determined by current magnetic resonance imaging scans.RESULTS: The leukotomized OCD subjects showed significant improvement of obsessive-compulsive symptoms; subjects with frontostriatal lesions tended to have improved most. The subjects with combined diagnoses of OCD and obsessive personality disorder (N = 3) had improved significantly less. Of 11 subjects with lesions of the ventral striatum, eight had developed substance dependence postoperatively. Intellectual functions were largely preserved in subjects with ventromedial frontal lesions only or frontostriatal lesions. However, all subjects showed subnormal performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Subjects with lesions of the dorsolateral frontal convexity also showed memory problems, attentional slowing, and lower performance IQ.CONCLUSIONS: Restricted ventromedial frontal leukotomy should be discussed as a last-resort treatment for severe and refractory OCD but not obsessive personality disorder. Lesions of the ventral striatum were significantly related to the occurrence of substance dependence, suggesting a role of this area in human addictive behavior.

KW - Behavior, Addictive

KW - Comorbidity

KW - Compulsive Personality Disorder

KW - Corpus Striatum

KW - Female

KW - Frontal Lobe

KW - Humans

KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Neuropsychological Tests

KW - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

KW - Psychosurgery

KW - Severity of Illness Index

KW - Substance-Related Disorders

KW - Treatment Outcome

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 9464207

SN - 0002-953X

VL - 155

SP - 255

EP - 263

JO - The American Journal of Psychiatry

JF - The American Journal of Psychiatry

IS - 2

ER -