Painful Pressure Atrophy of the Skull Following Epicranial Cable Placement in Deep Brain Stimulation: a Case Report

As a growing number of centers worldwide perform deep brain stimulation as a standard procedure, many authors have analyzed its characteristic hardware-related problems. Here, we demonstrate a case of hardware-related painful bone atrophy that highlights the importance of careful cable placement. A 68-year-old female patient with an implanted DBS system presents with pain of the mediosagittal cranial aspect of the head. Upon removal of the DBS system, pressure atrophy of the skull is observed below a compacted cable loop. Postoperatively, the patient reported full alleviation of the pressure sensation and pain.