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Study: PTSD Patients Show Long-Term Benefits with Vagus Nerve Stimulation

The leadership group for the Texas Biomedical Device Center includes, from left, Dr. Michael Kilgard, Dr. Jane Wigginton, Dr. Seth Hays and Dr. Robert Rennaker.

UT Dallas News Center

Stephen Fontenot

The leadership group for the Texas Biomedical Device Center includes, from left, Dr. Michael Kilgard, Dr. Jane Wigginton, Dr. Seth Hays and Dr. Robert Rennaker.

Overview

Is loss of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis in treatment-resistant patients possible?A breakthrough clinical study led by Jane Wigginton, MD, MSCS, medical science research director at Center for BrainHealth and chief medical officer at the Texas Biomedical Device Center, says yes.In this first-in-human trial, TxBDC at UT Dallas and Baylor University Medical Center teams paired miniaturized vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with prolonged exposure therapy. All participants in this study had failed first-line PTSD treatments — yet after the combined therapy, every single one of them no longer met PTSD diagnostic criteria. The effects lasted at least six months.“Typically, most patients carry this diagnosis for life,” said Dr. Michael Kilgard. “In this case, we had 100% loss of diagnosis. It’s very promising.”This work, published in Brain Stimulation (March 15) unites Dr. Wigginton’s passion for neuroplasticity and clinical innovation — and underscores the potential of brain-directed therapeutics to restore and maintain neurologic health.Read the article in UT Dallas News Center

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Jane Wigginton, MD

Medical Science Research Director

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