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Thursday, September 27, 2001 'Brain pacemaker' for Parkinson's backed Implanting small electrodes had more benefits than surgery in advanced cases, a study found. By Thomas H. Maugh 2d LOS ANGELES TIMES Implanting minute electrodes in the brain is the most effective treatment for advanced Parkinson's disease and has fewer side effects than widely used surgeries that destroy brain tissue, an international team will report today. The technology, a kind of brain pacemaker, "can literally restore patients to independent function" when conventional drugs can no longer help them, said Dr. C. Warren Olanow of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, who co-chaired the study being reported in today's New England Journal of Medicine. The implants could be used effectively in as many as 200,000 of the nation's one million Parkinson's patients, he added. Although surgical destruction of small areas of the brain may still have a role in a small number of Parkinson's patients, he said, that operation "basically should no longer be done." Parkinson's, which strikes as many as 100,000 Americans each year, is characterized by severe tremors and rigidity in the limbs and loss of muscle control. Its cause is unknown. Researchers have found that abnormal brain signals in Parkinson's are produced by two small regions of the brain, the globus pallidus and the subthalamic nucleus. In the implant procedure, tiny electrodes are implanted in brain tissue and the tissue is bathed in high-frequency radiation. The stimulation has the same benefit as destruction of the tissue, but without the side effects. A small device similar to a pacemaker is implanted under the skin to power the electrodes. The device itself costs about $10,000, and the entire procedure as much as $30,000. In research financed by Medtronic Corp. of Minneapolis, which manufactures the implant device, the team studied 134 patients at 18 medical centers in the United States, Europe and Australia. For 96 patients, the electrodes were embedded in the subthalamic nucleus on both sides of the brain; for 38, the globus pallidus. When researchers examined the results, the impact was "fantastic," Olanow said. SOURCE: The Philadelphia Inquirer http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/09/27/national/BRAIN27.htm * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn