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The national DBS brain tissue network pilot study: need for more tissue and more standardization

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Abstract

Over 70,000 DBS devices have been implanted worldwide; however, there remains a paucity of well-characterized post-mortem DBS brains available to researchers. We propose that the overall understanding of DBS can be improved through the establishment of a Deep Brain Stimulation-Brain Tissue Network (DBS-BTN), which will further our understanding of DBS and brain function. The objectives of the tissue bank are twofold: (a) to provide a complete (clinical, imaging and pathological) database for DBS brain tissue samples, and (b) to make available DBS tissue samples to researchers, which will help our understanding of disease and underlying brain circuitry. Standard operating procedures for processing DBS brains were developed as part of the pilot project. Complete data files were created for individual patients and included demographic information, clinical information, imaging data, pathology, and DBS lead locations/settings. 19 DBS brains were collected from 11 geographically dispersed centers from across the U.S. The average age at the time of death was 69.3 years (51–92, with a standard deviation or SD of 10.13). The male:female ratio was almost 3:1. Average post-mortem interval from death to brain collection was 10.6 h (SD of 7.17). The DBS targets included: subthalamic nucleus, globus pallidus interna, and ventralis intermedius nucleus of the thalamus. In 16.7% of cases the clinical diagnosis failed to match the pathological diagnosis. We provide neuropathological findings from the cohort, and perilead responses to DBS. One of the most important observations made in this pilot study was the missing data, which was approximately 25% of all available data fields. Preliminary results demonstrated the feasibility and utility of creating a National DBS-BTN resource for the scientific community. We plan to improve our techniques to remedy omitted clinical/research data, and expand the Network to include a larger donor pool. We will enhance sample preparation to facilitate advanced molecular studies and progenitor cell retrieval.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Adelaide Lackner Professorship to MSO, The University of Florida Foundation Funds, The Eric and Jennifer Scott Fund, the National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence, and NIH (R01-NS044287 to WS). We would also like to thank the members of the NPF DBS Working Group for their contributions and the Wadsworth Center Advanced Microscopy and Image Analysis Core facility for their contributions. This study has Institutional Review Board (UF-IRB) approval for use and the IRB# is: 130-2008.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Florida, 100 S. Newell Drive, Room L3-100, P.O Box 100236, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA

    V. Vedam-Mai, K. D. Foote, B. Reynolds & M. S. Okun

  2. Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    N. Krock, M. Ullman, S. Merritt, A. S. Resnick, P. Zeilman & M. S. Okun

  3. Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY, USA

    W. Shain & K. Smith

  4. Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    D. Steindler

  5. Department of Pathology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    A. T. Yachnis

  6. Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    F. Pagan

  7. Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    J. Marjama-Lyons

  8. Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

    P. Hogarth

Authors
  1. V. Vedam-Mai
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  2. N. Krock
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  3. M. Ullman
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  4. K. D. Foote
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  5. W. Shain
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  6. K. Smith
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  7. A. T. Yachnis
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  8. D. Steindler
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  9. B. Reynolds
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  10. S. Merritt
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  11. F. Pagan
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  12. J. Marjama-Lyons
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  13. P. Hogarth
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  14. A. S. Resnick
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  15. P. Zeilman
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  16. M. S. Okun
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. S. Okun.

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Vedam-Mai, V., Krock, N., Ullman, M. et al. The national DBS brain tissue network pilot study: need for more tissue and more standardization. Cell Tissue Bank 12, 219–231 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10561-010-9189-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10561-010-9189-1

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