ResultsSelective CLT against chroni

ResultsSelective CLT against chronic neuropathic pain were applied in nine patients using the novel, noninvasive tcMRgHIFU technology. Patients were monitored continuously before, during, and after each sonication period, were asked for their subjective experience (pain reduction,somatosensory improvements,vestibular feelings, paresthesias, and dysesthesias), and were exam-ined to exclude any motor or somatosensory deficit. All treatments were well tolerated and no side effects or neurological deficits were observed. Operating at peak temperatures of 51°C to 60°C (except in the very first patient, where the peak temperatures were kept below 50°C for safety reasons) under closed-loop MR guid-ance, precisely located lesions of 3mm to 5mm diam-eter were evident in 48-hour postoperative MRI. Pain relief 2 days after the interventions ranged from 30% to 100% (mean, 68%). Patients reported sonication ef-fects during the procedure, such as pain relief (nine patients), somatosensory improvements (five patients),vestibular feelings (five patients), paresthesias (three pa-ients), or dysesthesias (seven patients) in and around the pain area. These symptoms had already been ob-erved in some patients at focal temperatures below 50°C.