Meccanismi fisiopatologici e terapia del disturbo ossessivo-compulsivo con la stimolazione magnetica ripetitiva

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a non invasive or harmful technique that stimulates the cerebral cortex in the intact human beings. TMS has been used in the investigation of the physiology and pathophysiology of a number of neurological and psychiatric diseases. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsions. The pathophysiology of this condition is still unclear. One study performed with TMS has demonstrated an abnormal cortical excitability of the primary motor cortex in patients with OCD. About 30% of patients with OCD do not show a clinical improvement to standard drug treatment. Hence, the repetitive TMS technique - that allows the stimulation of cerebral cortex with repetitive stimuli - has been tested as a possible therapeutic treatment in OCD. However the results reported by a number of authors are not clear. Further research with TMS is needed to better define the pathophysiology of OCD and to demonstrate the efficacy of rTMS as a possible treatment of OCD.