Vagus stimulator

BACKGROUND: The posterior cricoarytenoid muscle is the abductor muscle for the vocal cords and is innerved by the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN). The purpose of this study was to present our determination if the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) contributes to the motor innervation of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle. METHODS: We performed electromyographies (EMGs) via needle electrodes on 47 posterior cricoarytenoid muscles from 28 patients during thyroidectomy (9 lobectomies and 19 total thyroidectomies) with intraoperative neural monitoring...

Studies have demonstrated that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) reduces ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of VNS in a rat model of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We further investigated whether the beneficial effects of VNS were dependent on the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR). Forty animals were randomized into 4 groups and all underwent CPR (n = 10 each): (1) CPR alone (control); (2) VNS during CPR; (3) α7nAChR antagonist methyllycaconitine citrate (MLA) with VNS; (4) α7nAChR agonist 3-(2, 4-dimethoxybenzylidene) anabaseine (GTS-21) without VNS...

OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate that under total intravenous general anesthesia (TIVA), the contralateral R1 (cRI) and contralateral R2 (cR2) components of the laryngeal adductor reflex (LAR) can be reliably elicited; to determine effects of topical anesthesia and inhalational anesthesia on the LAR; and to discuss how this technique may be utilized to continuously monitor the vagus nerve reflex arc. STUDY DESIGN: Case series. METHODS: Vocal fold mucosa was electrically stimulated via endotracheal tube surface-based electrodes to elicit a LAR...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease with a prevalence of 0.5-1% in Western populations. Conventionally, it is treated with therapeutic interventions that include corticosteroids, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, and biological agents. RA exerts a significant socio-economic burden and despite the use of existing treatments some patients end up with disabling symptoms. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a brain-body interface that serves to regulate homeostasis by integrating the external environment with the internal milieu...

The occurrence of a single seizure does not always require initiation of antiepileptic drugs. Risk of recurrent seizures should guide their use. In adults, key risk factors for recurrence are two unprovoked seizures occurring more than 24 hours apart, epileptiform abnormalities on electroencephalography, abnormal brain imaging, nocturnal seizures, or an epileptic syndrome associated with seizures. In children, key risk factors are abnormal electroencephalography results, an epileptic syndrome associated with seizures, severe head trauma, and cerebral palsy...

BACKGROUND: Vagus nerve stimulation is currently clinically evaluated as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. However, the mechanism by which this therapeutic intervention can have an immune-regulatory effect in colitis remains unclear. We determined the effect of intestine-specific vagotomy or intestine-specific sympathectomy of the superior mesenteric nerve (SMN) on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. Furthermore, we tested the efficacy of therapeutic SMN stimulation to treat DSS-induced colitis in rats...

OBJECTIVE: Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) has shown potential benefits for obesity treatment; however current devices lack physiological feedback, which limit their efficacy. Changes in extracellular pH (pH_e) have shown to be correlated with neural activity, but have traditionally been measured with glass microelectrodes, which limit their in vivo applicability. APPROACH: Iridium oxide has previously been shown to be sensitive to fluctuations in pH and is biocompatible...

We describe a case of reproducible asystole during endovascular treatment of a posterior fossa dural arteriovenous fistula. Catheterisation of the posterior meningeal artery, a branch of the vertebral artery in this patient, followed by dimethyl sulfoxide injection prior to Onyx administration resulted in two episodes of asystole.To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of asystole occurring during endovascular intervention in the posterior meningeal artery. This may represent a previously undescribed variant of the trigemino-cardiac reflex (TGCR) caused by chemical stimulation of small areas of trigeminally innervated posterior fossa dura...

Depression is the most common comorbidity and neuropsychiatric complication in HIV. Estimates suggest that the prevalence rate for depression among HIV-infected individuals is three times that of the general population. The association between HIV and clinical depression is complex; however, chronic activation of inflammatory mechanisms, which disrupt central nervous system (CNS) function, may contribute to this association. Disruptions in CNS function can result in cognitive disorders, social withdrawal, fatigue, apathy, psychomotor impairment, and sleep disturbances, which are common manifestations in depression and HIV alike...

Extinction memories are fragile and their formation has been proposed to partially rely on vagus nerve activity. We tested whether stimulating the auricular branch of the vagus (transcutaneous VNS; tVNS) accelerates extinction and reduces spontaneous recovery of fear. Forty-two healthy students participated in a 3-day fear conditioning study, where we tested fear acquisition (day 1), fear extinction (day 2) and the retention of the extinction memory (day 3). During extinction, participants were randomly allocated to receive tVNS or sham stimulation concurrently with each CS presentation...

BACKGROUND: Despite optimal medical treatment, including epilepsy surgery, many epilepsy patients have uncontrolled seizures. Since the 1970s interest has grown in invasive intracranial neurostimulation as a treatment for these patients. Intracranial stimulation includes both deep brain stimulation (DBS) (stimulation through depth electrodes) and cortical stimulation (subdural electrodes). This is an updated version of a previous Cochrane review published in 2014. OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of DBS and cortical stimulation for refractory epilepsy based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs)...

OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) induces a positive shift of slow cortical potentials (SCPs) in patients with >50% seizure reduction (responders) but not in non-responders. METHODS: We analyzed routine clinical electroencephalograms (EEGs) from 24 patients who were undergoing seizure treatment by VNS. The patients were divided into 2 groups by hardware time constant (TC) of EEG: the TC 10-s group (10 patients) and TC 2-s group (14 patients)...

OBJECTIVE: Left vagus nerve (LVN) stimulation (LVNS) has been tested for lowering the blood pressure (BP) in patients with resistant hypertension (RH). Whereas, closed-loop LVNS (CL-LVNS) driven by a BP marker may be superior to open-loop LVNS, there are situations (e.g., exercising) when hypertension is normal. Therefore, an ideal anti-RH CL-LVNS system requires a variable to avoid stimulation in such conditions, for example, a respiratory marker ideally extracted from the LVN. As the LVN conducts respiratory signals, this study aimed to investigate if such signals can be recorded using implantable means and if a marker to monitor respiration could be derived from such recordings...

BACKGROUND: The vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an approach mainly used in cases of intractable epilepsy despite all the efforts. Also, its benefits have been shown in severe cases of depression resistant to typical treatment. AIM: The aim of this study was to present current knowledge of vagus nerve stimulation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A new value has emerged just at this stage: VNS aiming the ideal treatment with new hopes. It is based on the placement of a programmable generator on the chest wall...

The ventilatory pattern during sequential swallowing is influenced by the vagal activity. As the vagus nerve is paired and mixed, we aimed (1) to determine if vagal implication in swallowing and breathing coordination is symmetric. (2) to study the importance of vagal afferences in swallowing and breathing coordination. Sixty two Wistar rats (7-11weeks, 260-400g) were studied by barometric plethysmography. In the first part of the study, we determined the effects of a right cervical vagotomy and the effects of a left cervical vagotomy on ventilatory pattern at rest and during sequential swallowing (14 rats with right vagotomy, 14 rats with left vagotomy and 14 rats with sham surgery)...

Changes in photoperiod length are transduced into neuroendocrine signals by melatonin (MEL) secreted by the pineal gland triggering seasonally adaptive responses in many animal species. Siberian hamsters, transferred from a long-day 'summer-like' photoperiod (LD) to a short-day 'winter-like' photoperiod (SD), exhibit a naturally-occurring reversal in obesity. Photoperiod-induced changes in adiposity are mediated by the duration of MEL secretion and can be mimicked by exogenously administered MEL into animals housed in LD...

BACKGROUND: Many children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders undergo expensive, time-consuming behavioral interventions that often yield only modest improvements. The development of adjunctive interventions that can increase the benefit of rehabilitation therapies is essential in order to improve the lives of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. MAIN TEXT: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an FDA approved therapy that is safe and effective in reducing seizure frequency and duration in individuals with epilepsy...

INTRODUCTION: The vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is used for treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy but laryngeal side effects are common. We tried to improve VNS by modifying the implantation procedure. The aim was to reduce the rate of side effects that have prevented using VNS to its full capacity. METHODS: We operated on 74 pediatric patients for VNS device implantation using a modified surgical protocol incorporating lower neck incision for electrode placement and 36 patients who were operated by standard technique were used for control group...

The aim of this study was to validate a procedure to identify and preserve the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (EBSLN) during thyroid surgery. The present study also aimed to analyze the EBSLN and the vagus nerve activities after stimulation and demonstrate an operative association between all the laryngeal muscles. Dissection of the cervical region was performed bilaterally in four adult cadavers. In a second step, 144 patients undergoing total thyroidectomy were included. Intraoperative stimulations of the cervical vagus nerve and the EBSLN in the sternothyroid-laryngeal triangle were performed bilaterally...

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a promising neurostimulation tool for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression. Here, we report the effects of positive remission rates and tuning parameters in a group of 18 (6 female, 12 male, mean age 54) long-term treated patients. Treatment varied between 3 and 200months (mean 104.9months). Mean stimulation intensity was 1.46mA, ranging from 0.5 to 2.0mA and high-frequency stimulation of 20-25Hz (mean 23.61Hz). The remission rates in our study population clearly indicate ongoing positive effects of VNS and highlight stimulation tunings between 0...