Safe Biopsy of Prefrontal Cortex During Deep Brain Stimulation Procedures
A new study confirms that biopsying the prefrontal cortex during deep brain stimulation is safe, opening new avenues for neuroscientific research and treatment.
Recent research demonstrates that performing a biopsy on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgeries is a safe procedure. Published online on September 3, 2025, in the journal Neurosurgery, this study offers promising insights into integrating tissue sampling with existing neurosurgical interventions.
The study, led by Dr. Sema Akkus from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, involved developing a minimally invasive method to obtain small tissue samples from the PFC during DBS procedures. A total of 1,152 DBS surgeries were performed on 590 patients, with the researchers tracking adverse events such as infections, intracranial hemorrhages (ICH), and seizures to assess safety.
In 652 procedures, the team successfully obtained PFC biopsies, while in 500 procedures, no biopsy was performed. Follow-up assessments of cognitive health were completed for 144 patients at baseline and one year post-surgery. Results showed no infections occurred in either group. The rate of intracranial hemorrhages was comparable between groups, at 1.7% for biopsies and 1.4% for non-biopsy procedures, regardless of hemorrhage severity or location. Seizure rates remained very low and not significantly different between groups, at 0.2% and 0.4%. Importantly, the number of biopsies did not correlate with cognitive decline over time.
Dr. Brian Koppel, co-lead author, highlighted that these findings demonstrate the safety of PFC biopsies during DBS, emphasizing the potential for involving patients in research activities that could advance neuroscientific understanding without added risk. The study also notes that one author has consulting ties with medical device companies such as Medtronic, Abbott Neuromodulation, and Turing Medical.
This breakthrough paves the way for more integrated research and therapeutic approaches in neurosurgery, enabling tissue sampling to better understand neurological disorders while maintaining patient safety.
Source: [https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-prefrontal-cortex-safely-biopsied-deep.html]
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