Quality of Life changes following Gamma Knife Ventral Capsulotomy for refractory Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

• Grant number: 24/14857-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: October 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Queiroz Hoexter
• Grantee: Maria Correa da Fonseca Andrade
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common debilitating psychiatric disorder with 10% of its patients being considered therapy-refractory. For these patients that don't respond to any of the standard available treatments, neurosurgeries have emerged as an option. Among different neurosurgical approaches, gamma-knife ventral capsulotomy (GVC), a procedure that consists of firing radiation to the anterior limb of the internal capsule, a structure associated with the OCD's pathophysiology, has shown effectiveness and safety. There are several studies analyzing OCD's patients' response to the GVC, but very little data concerning the effects of GVC procedure on the quality of life (QOF) of these patients. In this context, this study aims to (1) analyze QOF changes in patients who underwent GVC using SF-36 scale and (2) investigate possible correlations between QOF's variation and clinical and demographic variables, such as changes in OCD, depression and anxiety's symptoms, illness duration, adverse reactions to the procedure, education levels and age at the GVC procedure. To achieve the study's objectives, we will analyze pre and post data collected from 17 OCD patients who underwent GVC. Specifically, we will compare data collected before the neurosurgery with data collected one year after the procedure, focusing on the following scales and instruments: Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS); Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF); Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D); Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A); Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); Beck anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Systematic Assessment for Treatment Emergent Events (SAFTEE). The expected results are: (1) an increase in QOF following the GVC procedure and (2) greater QOF improvements associated with reductions in OCD, anxiety and depression's symptoms, shorter illness duration, reduced adverse effects, higher education levels, and younger age at the time of the procedure.