Wednesday, August 3, 2011

SURGICAL TREATMENT OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE


The first line of treatment of Parkinson’s disease is still medical. Most clinical studies as to the efficacy of pharmacological agents are based on the context of having mild, moderate and advanced disease. Thus, surgical treatment of PD has been reserved only for patients with both severe motor impairment from PD and motor complications in the form of fluctuations and dyskinesias.



In a review of literature of all researches done worldwide from 2001 to 2004, the following surgical interventions have been undertaken, namely:



1. Unilateral Pallidotomy

2. Pallidal Stimulation

3. Thalatomy

4. Thalamic Stimulation

5. Subthalatomy

6. Subthalamic Nucleus Stimulation (STN)

7. Human fetal mesencephalic transplantation

8. Fetal porcine cell transplantation



Of the above surgical procedures, unilateral pallidotomy and subthalamic nucleus stimulation (STN) have been found to be efficacious for symptomatic control of parkinsonism. However, only the former, i.e., unilateral pallidotomy, has been shown to be likely efficacious in the treatment of motor complications like dyskinesias and fluctuations. Thus, they are said to be clinically useful in the treatment of PD but with associated risk which are acceptable under specialized monitoring.

Pallidal stimulation has been observed to be likely efficacious for the symptomatic control of parkinsonism. It might possibly be useful for clinical practice but also with acceptable risk with specialized monitoring.

Human fetal mesencephalic transplantation has been observed to be non-efficacious in the symptomatic control of parkinsonism as well as in the treatment of motor complications. It also has an unacceptable risk of developing severely disabling dyskinesias predominantly affecting the legs which occurred generally 6 – 12 months after surgery thus requiring another surgical intervention.

The rest of the surgical procedures are still in the investigational stages and with insufficient data as to merit any clinical usefulness.



References:



Vitek JL, Bakay RAE, Freeman A, et al. Randomized trial of

pallidotomy versus medical therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Ann

Neurol 2003;53:558 –569.



Katayama Y, Kasai M, Oshima H, et al. Subthalamic nucleus

stimulation for Parkinson’s disease: benefits observed in levodopa intolerant

patients. J Neurosurg 2001;95:213–221



Olanow CW, Goetz CG, Kordower JH, et al. A double-blind

controlled trial of bilateral fetal nigral transplantation in Parkinson’s

disease. Ann Neurol 2003;54:403– 414.

3 comments:

  1. My husband was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease at 68. His symptoms were shuffling of feet, slurred speech, low volume speech, degradation of hand writing, horrible driving skills, right arm held at 45 degree angle. Things were tough for me, I too was diagnosed of COPD but now we both finally free from these diseases with the help of total cure herbal foundation, He now walks properly and all symptoms has reversed. He had trouble with balance especially at night, getting into the shower and exiting it is difficult. Getting into bed is also another thing he finds impossible. We had to find a better solution for his condition which has really helped him a lot,The biggest helped we had was totalcureherbsfoundation .c om They walked us through the proper steps, im highly recommending this herbal formula to anyone who needs help.

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  2. After was running around from doctor to doctor before we finally get rid of her PD ,at age 74 my mother noticed that her handwriting was getting smaller and I was writing faster as well. She also noticed a small tremor in her left hand. The doctor went over her different symptoms and he suspected she either had a small stroke or the beginnings of Parkinson 's disease. After finding a neurologist and some testing she was diagnosed with the beginning stages of Parkinson’s disease. That was 3 years ago. She take Sinimet four times a day to control the symptoms, which include falling, imbalance, gait problems, swallowing difficulties, and slurring of speech,This year, our family doctor started her on multivitamincare. org PD Herbal mixture, 15 weeks into treatment she improved dramatically. At the end of the full treatment course, the disease is totally under control. No case of dementia, hallucination, weakness, muscle pain or tremors.

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