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Hope From A Knife
=97 =97
Surgery for Parkinson=92s Brings Success Stories In Face of
Skepticism
=97 =97
Patients Tell of Great Relief Operation to Cut A Spot Deep
in the Brain
=97 =97
Rediscovering an Old Idea
=97 =97
By DAVID STIPP
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
=97 =97
Edward Weinberger has had Parkinson=92s disease for 13 years.  His sympto=
ms grew
steadily more frequent and agonizing: painful periods of near paralysis a=
nd, at times,
uncontrollable tremors.  He tried drug after drug, with dwindling benefit=
s.  By last year, =93I
couldn=92t go out for more than a half hour without freezing up,=94 says =
the 52-year-old New
York investment banker.  =93I couldn=92t get out of bed by myself or turn=
 over.  I hadn=92t driven
a car for 10 years.  Sometimes I couldn=92t talk, and choked=94 on food.
Then he saw an electrifying report by a Swedish neurosurgeon named Lauri =
Laitinen,
who had threaded a probe deep into the brains of 38 Parkinson=92s patient=
s and burned
out a sliver of hyperactive neurons in an area called the pallidum.  Some=
 92% had
=93complete or almost complete relief of rigidity=94 after this =93pallid=
otomy=94 operation, while
81% had =93excellent or good long-lasting tremor relief,=94 said the 1992=
 report in the
Journal of Neurosurgery.  =93A good test of the procedure,=94 Dr. Laitine=
n wrote separately,
=93is to have the patient dance after surgery.=94
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
A Changed Man
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Last fall, Mr. Weinberger flew to Stockholm for a pallidotomy by Dr. Lait=
inen.  While in
surgery - done under local anesthetic - =93I went from a state of total r=
igidity to feeling all of
a sudden released,=94 Mr. Weinberger says.  =93Two days after I was walki=
ng through the
streets of Stockholm as a tourist.  I could drive.  I could go out for a =
drink and read at
night.  It was so miraculous, I didn=92t quite believe it.=94
With little notice, hundreds of Parkinson =91s patients have grasped at t=
his surgical
straw over the past two years - most, it appears, with startlingly good r=
esults.  The
procedure isn=92t a cure.  It sometimes doesn=92t help, and when it does,=
 symptoms are
usually lessened rather than eradicated.  It poses a risk of bleeding in =
the brain, which
can paralyze or kill.  But some doctors say pallidotomy is the most promi=
sing Parkinson=92s
treatment since the 1960s advent of L-dopa, the drug that inspired the bo=
ok and
subsequent movie =93Awakenings.=94
=93I was very, very skeptical when I first heard Laitinen=92s claims,=94 =
says Patrick Kelly, a
New York University neurosurgeon.  =93Even when I saw the results the fir=
st couple of
times, I thought it was a fluke.  But I=92ve become a believer.=94  Dr. K=
elly has now
performed about 30 pallidotomies himself.
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Waiting List
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Another neurosurgeon, Robert Iacono of Loma Linda University in Californi=
a, has
done almost 500 of the operations since hearing Dr. Laitinen=92s results:=
 It=92s a real
revolution,=94 he contends.  =93I=92ve seen dozens of wheelchair-bound pa=
tients become
almost completely functional.=94
Demand is exploding for the operation as stories about its benefits filte=
r out through
patients support groups.  Some of the 20 or so U.S. medical centers that =
offer the
surgery have year-long waiting lists.  Dozens of Americans have flown to =
Sweden for it,
although Dr. Laitinen also has a backlog.
Parkinson=92s disease afflicts roughly a million Americans.  Some doctors=
 say perhaps
100,000 of them currently would be good candidates for the surgery, gener=
ally the ones
whose drugs are failing them but who don=92t yet have major brain damage =
from the
disease.  Many more patients, perhaps most people who get Parkinson=92s, =
may need the
surgery as they lose benefit from drugs, proponents add.
L-dopa generally becomes less effective over time and often itself causes=

uncontrollable limb spasms, facial tics and other problems.  =93All (pati=
ents) fail eventually=94
to respond well to L-dopa, Dr. Kelly says.  =93Many of them could become =
candidates for
pallidotomy.=94
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Plenty of Doubters
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Such thinking has ignited a momentous debate: On one side are neurosurgeo=
ns and
hopeful patients who are convinced the surgery can help many; on the othe=
r side are
doctors and health-maintenance organizations saying it is a hyped, experi=
mental
treatment that doesn=92t warrant insurance coverage.  (Many non-HMO insur=
ers, including
major Medicare contractors, do cover the $20,000-to-$40,000 operation.)
Some people with Parkinson=92s say they quit their primary doctors in a h=
uff after the
surgery, adding that the physicians opposed it and sometimes later refuse=
d to
acknowledge its benefits.  =93My neurologist was totally against it,=94 s=
ays Lenore Rabjohns,
a San Diego resident whose former HMO doesn=92t pay for the surgery.  Pay=
ing out of
pocket, she had Dr. Laitinen do the procedure on both sides of her brain =
- each side has
a pallidum giving =93immense relief from Parkinson s symptoms,=94 she say=
s.  =93When I went
back to my neurologist, he said it was just a placebo effect.=94

Neurologists, the main specialists for Parkinson=92s, tend to be the most=
 skeptical.
Their main tools are drugs, and they often regard surgeons as willing to =
cut first and ask
questions later. =93There=92s benefit to be derived from pallidotomy for =
very carefully
selected patients,=94 says Robert Feldman, a neurologist at Boston Univer=
sity.  But I
wouldn=92t refer patients to Iacono.  I don=92t think he=92s thinking cri=
tically.  He=92s thinking
surgically.

Please Turn to Page A8, Column 1
=97 =97
Hope From a Knife: Parkinson=92s Patients Claim Relief
After Operation to Cut a Spot Deep in the Brain
=97 =97
Continued From First Page
=97 =97
Dr. Iacono, the operation=92s leading U.S. proponent, has become a lightn=
ing rod for
skeptics.  Some of his patients recently posted =93testimonials=94 about =
benefits of the
surgery on the Internet that =93almost sound like snake oil,=94 says Robe=
rt Fink, a
neurosurgeon in Berkeley, Calif., who doesn=92t do pallidotomies.
Replies Dr. Iacono: The benefits of the surgery =93are very dramatic, and=
 neurologists
just can=92t stand it.  Their mildly positive statements about it are a f=
orm of apathy that=92s
malignant.
There are some good reasons for caution, though.  What causes Parkinson=
=92s
disease, first identified in 1817, remains a mystery, as does the precise=
 mechanism of
relief afforded by pallidotomies.  The progressive disease often causes a=
 confusing array
of symptoms that can dramatically worsen or improve several times a day -=
 providing
fertile ground for oversold remedies and outright quackery.
The average age of onset is 57, but some 30% of cases are diagnosed befor=
e age
50.  Parkinson=92s typically starts with weakness in a limb or a slight h=
and.  tremor, then
worsens over five, 10 or 20 years, potentially ending in paralysis, demen=
tia and early
death.
Parkinson=92s sufferers often have impassive faces, speak in soft monoton=
es and walk
with small, shuffling steps, hunched forward.  They suffer insomnia, excr=
uciating pain
from rigid muscles, depression, nightmares and hallucinations from Parkin=
son=92s drugs,
one of which is chemically similar to LSD.  The disease inflicts both the=
 inability to move
and uncontrollable movement, from slight tremors to wild flopping that ca=
n dislocate
joints.
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Other Initiatives
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Skeptics about pallidotomy often cite the false hopes raised in 1987 by a=
 Mexico City
surgeon named Ignacio Madrazo.  He reported helping patients by transplan=
ting into
their brains cells from adult adrenal glands, which were thought to spew =
chemicals
offsetting a neuronal deficiency.  Patients rushed to get the transplants=
, but U.S.
researchers in 1989 quashed the fad by reporting that careful evaluations=
 of such
patients showed minimal, short-lived benefits and a high rate of complica=
tions.  (The
effectiveness of another kind of brain transplant for Parkinson=92s disea=
se - of brain tissue
from aborted fetuses - isn=92t yet established.  A study of the technique=
 is expected to
begin within weeks.)
Surgery can cause a placebo effect.  In a 1950s study, heart patients giv=
en sham
artery bypass operations - incisions without bypasses - reported as much =
relief from the
pain of angina as those who got bypasses.  With Parkinson=92s, the risk o=
f overestimating
an operation=92s benefits is heightened by the subjective nature of many =
of the disease=92s
symptoms, says Chicago neurologist Harold Klawans.  =93A patient=92s mood=
 can affect how
much he can do=94 in overcoming the disease=92s lack of muscle control, h=
e says.
While acknowledging that pallidotomies can help some people, the doubters=
 say
desperate patients may rush to get the operation from surgeons who don=92=
t have much
experience doing it, with potentially disastrous results.  Indeed, Dr. La=
itinen reported that
six of his first 38 pallidotomy patients had permanent blind spots in the=
ir visual fields
after the surgery.  The problem no longer occurs, he says, because he has=
 figured out
how to avoid damaging neurons that carry visual signals.
The skeptics also note that before L-dopa, neurosurgeons often tried, wit=
h only
limited success, to help by destroying parts of the pallidum.  The idea a=
rose from the
observation that Parkinson=92s patients who had minor strokes sometimes l=
ost their
tremor.  The strokes apparently had disabled misfiring neurons that were =
responsible for
the quivering.
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
First Efforts
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Beginning in the 1930s, surgeons tried to nick the same brain area hit by=
 the
beneficial strokes.  The results were promising - and appalling.  One pio=
neer, Russell
Meyers, reported that after he cut nerve tracts near the pallidum in 38 p=
atients, 25 had
lessened Parkinson=92s symptoms but six died soon afterward.
Later, surgeons improved the precision of probes and did better.  By dest=
roying part
of the pallidum, an area that helps control movement, they alleviated som=
e of the muscle
rigidity.  But the surgery reportedly did little for tremor and the inabi=
lity to make voluntary
movements.
Then researchers learned that the brains of Parkinson s patients were def=
icient in
dopamine, a neurotransmitter that carries signals between neurons.  In th=
e late 1960s,
they found that oral doses of a dopamine precursor, L-dopa, could ease th=
e deficiency,
mitigating symptoms.  That killed off most surgery for the disease.
Unknown to most doctors, however, a noted Swedish surgeon named Lars Leks=
ell
had found that by knocking out part of the pallidum not usually targeted,=
 he could
dramatically improve all Parkinson=92s symptoms.  The late Dr. Leksell di=
dn=92t publish his
finding =93because he believed that a neurosurgeon was biased in reportin=
g his own
results,=94 says Dr. Laitinen, one of his prot=E9g=E9s.  Less old-fashion=
ed, Dr. Laitinen issued
his startling 1992 report on the procedure after trying it on 38 patients=
 who were failing
on L-dopa.
=93Neurologists were extremely surprised by the results,=94 says Dr. Lait=
inen.  He says he
has now performed about 350 pallidotomies with similar results.  =93Young=
er patients do
particularly well.  We recently checked the first 10 patients who got pal=
lidotomies in 1985
and 1986,=94 he says, =93and nine of them are doing well.=94
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
How It Might Work
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Medical textbooks say brain surgery can help the tremor of Parkinson=91s =
but not the
freezing.  Rethinking that in light of the new pallidotomy results, scien=
tists theorize that
lack of dopamine incites furious firing by certain neurons that normally =
help suppress
undesired movement.  That causes Parkinson=92s patients to freeze up.  Pa=
llidotomy
appears to cut these overactive =93inhibitory=94 brain pathways, as well =
as ones that induce
tremors.
But the jury is still out on crucial issues: how effective the surgery is=
, how much risk it
poses, precisely what part of the pallidum to destroy for maximum benefit=
 and how long
the benefit lasts.  An Emory University team in Atlanta has begun a feder=
ally funded
study to answer these questions, but its results aren=92t expected for ye=
ars.  A report on
126 patients given pallidotomies by Dr. Iacono is expected to be publishe=
d soon.
Meanwhile, patients are getting some answers via the Internet and support=
 groups.
After flying to Stockholm for a pallidotomy, Alan Bonander, of San Ramon,=
 Calif.,
recently produced a videotape on the surgery that is now circulating in t=
he Parkinson=92s-
disease network.  In a moving segment, Mr. Bonander is shown with immobil=
e limbs just
before the surgery.  then flexing his limbs with fluid speed just after -=
 calling to mind the
=93Wizard of Oz=94 scene in which Dorothy oils the rusted tin man.  Mr. B=
onander say he still
has some problems with tremor and rigidity, but =93my quality of life=94 =
has improved.
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
Outcomes Research
=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
David Devor, a Jerusalem resident whose wife has Parkinson=92s, recently =
posted on
the Internet what may be the most comprehensive report so far on pallidot=
omy
outcomes.  After being advised against the surgery by his wife=92s doctor=
, he asked Dr.
Iacono for evidence that it works.  =93I heard a lot of neurologists call=
 him a charlatan,=94 Mr.
Devor says.
Dr. Iacono responded by sending him the names of all his pallidotomy pati=
ents from
late 1993 to late 1994.  Running up a $1,000 phone bill, Mr. Devor interv=
iewed 113 of
the patients or their spouses.  Nine said they hadn=92t been helped, incl=
uding five who said
they got worse, Mr. Devor reported; but about 80% said the surgery gave t=
hem =93marked
improvement,=94 with symptoms lessened by 20% to 100%.
Many described the surgery with words like =93miraculous,=94 he added in =
the report.
Most typical were the expressions of relief to be again able to turn over=
 in bed, shower
and dress alone, eat normally .  .  ., to walk, write and work normally o=
r almost normally,
and even drive a car.=94  Mr. Devor concluded by asking, =93Would I fly i=
n a shuttle that had
a 92% reliability of getting me some distance away from hell on earth, 8%=
 of doing me
some harm and well under 1% of killing me?=94
His wife, Aviva, is scheduled to have a pallidotomy next week.

=97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97   END =97=97=97=97=97 =97=97=97=97=97
The Wall Street Journal; Wednesday, February 22, 1995; Page 1
Hope From a Knife

Page  1


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