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Ablative Surgery for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

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Neurosurgical Treatments for Psychiatric Disorders

Abstract

Intractable OCD and depression cause tremendous suffering. An estimated 20 % of patients remain severely affected in spite of the best available medication and behavioural therapies. Existing data suggest that lesion procedures can benefit a large proportion (ranging from about 60 to 80 %) of patients with medically intractable OCD. Long-term serious adverse events are very infrequent. Functional neuroimaging studies play an extremely important role in understanding the mechanisms of disease development and therapeutic action. Our experience over the past 10 years provides evidence that the most recent lesion procedures are even safer, alleviate suffering, and improve the quality of life of patients with these disabling disorders.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Functional Neurosurgery and Radiosurgery Department, Ruber International Hospital, Madrid, Spain

    Roberto Martinez-Alvarez

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  1. Roberto Martinez-Alvarez
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Correspondence to Roberto Martinez-Alvarez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Functional Neurosurgery, Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Bomin Sun

  2. Neurosurgery, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Antonio De Salles

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© 2015 Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, Shanghai and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Martinez-Alvarez, R. (2015). Ablative Surgery for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders. In: Sun, B., Salles, A. (eds) Neurosurgical Treatments for Psychiatric Disorders. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9576-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9576-0_10

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