bilateral subthalamotomy: an alternative to DBS

[Parkinson_Schmarkinson]

Anyone have any knowledge of this procedure? It's been around since 2000 at least.

"In this pilot study, bilateral subthalamotomy was performed on 18 Parkinson's patients at the Centro Internacional de Restauracion Neurologica (CIREN) in Havana, Cuba…

Two years after their surgery, as a group, patients exhibited approximately a 50 percent improvement in motor symptoms and in drug-induced abnormal movements, compared to their scores before surgery. Patients also exhibited significant improvement in activities of daily living. Patients who also exhibited defects in mental ("frontal") information processing before surgery showed improvement in these defects after surgery. Although there were no serious permanent side effects from the surgery, three patients with large lesions developed severe abnormal involuntary movement (dyskinesias), imbalance and trouble speaking. These symptoms improved gradually over the next 3-6 months and the patients retained otherwise significant improvement in PD motor symptoms.

Another benefit of this surgery was an apparent 70 percent reduction in the doses of medication required to treat the patients' motor symptoms. The smaller doses of medications undoubtedly added to the benefits obtained from the surgery.…"

see whsc.emory.edu/_releases/20...

[Kat00]

This is a surgery in which a part of the brain is destroyed in order to stop tremor...hence its similarity in name to Lobotomy! Although this surgery can be somewhat successful, any time you go in to kill a portion of the brain there are great risks,and unknown potential to permanently damage other areas in the brain close to the tiny site the surgeon is targeting..

The newer technology hopes to stimulate the brain to produce more controlled and predictable response without damage to the brain itself.