A correlative anatomical and clinical study of pain suppression by deep brain stimulation

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Abstract
The clinical results of electrical stimulation in medial thalamic regions for cancer pain have been correlated with the exact location of the stimulation sites. Five brains were examined by postmortem histology. Chronic implantation of enamel coated platinum-iridium electrodes for up to 17 mo. caused relatively mild glial and neuronal reactions, and no significant hemorrhage or infarction. The anatomical verifications showed that the electrodes were close to, but not exactly in, the regions defined by the stereotactic coordinates. From the clinico-anatomical correlations it appears that good pain relief can be obtained by electrical stimulation in the periventricular gray region of the posterior thalamus.