Hope

[Brooke]

I found this video on you tube. How come we do not hear very much about this procedure. It looks very hopeful to me.

youtube.com/watch?v=-VViXZA...(Not working as expected?)

[shall1019]

Wow - how come this isn't being used? Do you know?

[camper in reply to shall1019]

Yes - Why isn't it being done today?

[Hidden]

Quite unbelievable.

If this possibly works on all PD cases surely it should be done routinely. I wonder why not?

I suspect the drug companies have a say in this. If the Doctors should cure us all tomorrow with an operation that takes say an hour, the drug companies would lose a very large slice of profit.

I once read it is the drug companies which run the Health services.

When one thinks about it, what constitutes most of any ones treatment?

Drugs.

I rest my case mi lud!

[Bitbit]

So interesting, thank you for sharing.

neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.ed...

i googled it, "Only patients with treatment-resistant idiopathic Parkinson's disease that have clearly responded to dopamine replacement therapy in the past should be considered candidates for pallidotomy. While many of the cardinal symptoms of PD will respond to pallidotomy, the features of the disease which respond best are drug induced dyskinesias, painful dystonias, marked ON/OFF fluctuations, severe bradykinesia, and rigidity. Symptoms that may improve but do so less reliably are tremor, speech dysfunction and gait disturbance. Postural instabilitiy is rarely if ever helped. The ideal patient is young (< 50 years of age), suffers from asymmetric idiopathic PD and has severe ON/OFF fluctuations with drug induced dyskinesias. Hemidystonia is another indication for pallidotomy which appears to hold promise although the available data is limited.

Contraindications to pallidotomy include disorders which may mimic idiopathic Parkinson's disease such as progressive supranuclear palsy, Shy-Drager syndrome, or striatonigral degeneration. Dementia or other evidence of a serious cognitive decline are also contraindications. Patients with severe ataxia or other serious gait problems are usually not good candidates for pallidotomy. Advanced age (greater than 75 years) or serious systemic illnesses constitute relative contraindications. Structural abnormalities on MRI may also represent a relative contraindication to pallidotomy."

[Bitbit]

And from the michael j fox site, our hero, "Pallidotomy

A surgical procedure in which lesions are produced in the globus pallidus region of the brain in an effort to lessen Parkinson's symptoms such as tremors, rigidity, and bradykinesia. Pallidotomy has become less commonly performed with the establishment of deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery as a safe and effective surgical intervention for Parkinson's disease."

[Hikoi]

Thanks Brooke for posting, and also Bitbit,

I wish it was going to be some new discovery but i think it has been around ages. I wonder if it was the operation MJF had which has stopped him from having DBS now (as I understand it). I thought it was not performed any more but interesting it is still done in some places.

[Hikoi]

Brooke found this

Pallidotomy – which is regaining popularity as a procedure,

and is now the most common form of lesioning technique used. The target site is located in the part of the brain known as the globus pallidus. Pallidotomy is most important for its dramatic effect on rigidity and akinesia (lack of movement) and reductions in the sudden, involuntary movements (dyskinesias) that can result from drug therapy. Some bilateral pallidotomies are being performed for optimum symptom control. However, these carry increased surgical risks

parkinsons.org.uk/PDF/B123_...

So I was wrong - It is becoming popular again.

[Hidden]

Thank you for posting this