OCD brain stimulation study pulled before it even started
NCT ID NCT03244852
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study aimed to improve how deep brain stimulation (DBS) is targeted for people with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It planned to use brain scans to personalize the placement of electrodes. However, the trial was withdrawn before enrolling any participants, so no results or conclusions are available.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- deep brain stimulation (DBS)
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Started
-
Sep 2017
- Finished
-
Jan 2022
- Lead sponsor
-
Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
Who is studied
Subjects will be 11 patients with DSM-5-defined OCD of disabling severity, refractory to prolonged treatment trials with conventional medication and behavioral therapy, who would therefore otherwise be candidates for psychiatric neurosurgery.
- Ages
-
21 to 64 years
- Sex
-
Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. OCD, diagnosed by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5), judged of disabling severity with a Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) score of at least 28. 2. Persistence of severe symptoms and impairment for five or more years despite: i. at least three adequate (≥3 months at the maximum tolerated dose) serotonin transporter inhibitor trials (may use any serotonin or serotonin-norepinephrine inhibitors, but must include a trial of clomipramine) alone or in combination with ii. adequate behavior therapy (≥20 sessions of expert exposure and response prevention; At least 20 sessions of behavioral therapy must be attempted), and iii. augmentation of one of the selective SRIs with a neuroleptic or clonazepam. 3. Age between 21 and 64 years. 4. Able to understand and comply with instructions. 5. Able to give fully informed, written consent. 6. Approved to be implanted with a DBS device for OCD. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Current or past psychotic disorder. 2. Full-scale IQ below 75 on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WAIS) or cognitive impairment that would affect a participant's ability to give informed consent or provide interview or self-report data reliably, as determined by the consent monitor and the site psychiatrist. A questionnaire assessing consent comprehension will be used with all study subjects, to ensure that they understand the key procedures of the study, and its risks and benefits. 3. A clinical history of bipolar mood disorder; substance-induced mania is not an exclusion. 4. Any current clinically significant neurological disorder or medical illness affecting brain function, other than tic disorders or Tourette syndrome. 5. Any clinically significant abnormality on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 6. Any labeled DBS contraindication, and/or inability to undergo presurgical MRI (cardiac pacemaker, pregnancy, metal in body, severe claustrophobia), infection, coagulopathy, inability to undergo an awake operation, significant cardiac or other medical risk factors for surgery. 7. Current or unstably remitted substance abuse, dependence, or a positive urine toxicology screen. 8. Pregnancy and women of childbearing age not using effective contraception. 9. Unable to adhere to operational and administrative study requirements (in the investigators' judgment). 10. Clinical history of severe personality disorder. 11. Imminent risk of suicide or an inability to control suicide attempts (in the investigators' judgment). History of serious suicidal behavior or one or more interrupted suicide attempts with potential lethality judged to result in serious injury or death. 12. Diagnosis of body dysmorphic disorder. 13. Evidence of dementia or other significant cognitive impairment on neuropsychological evaluation 14. Past or present diagnosis of hoarding disorder.
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Obsessive compulsive disorder are added.
Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
Massachusetts General Hospital
Charlestown, Massachusetts, 02129, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Reading the Brain's signals to predict who benefits from deep brain stimulation
- Brain scans and biosamples: mapping why OCD looks so different in every person
- Can a gentle electrical current quiet Obsessive-Compulsive symptoms?
- Can magnetic pulses ease OCD in teens who Haven't improved?
- Can a focused electric field quiet the Brain's obsessive signals?
- Can tailored brain stimulation quiet anxiety that drugs Can't?