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Hi I'm new to the list and thought that I would "listen" for quite awhile, but Kathi Mitchell's inquiry has prompted this response. My father was diagnosed with PD in about 1970. (It is hard to remember - but I believe I was in 6th or 7th grade at the time) He is now 77 years old in Stage 4 - on. Just last Thursday, at our quarterly neurologist appt. I inquired about the pallidotomy procedure. We go to University Neurologists at Rush Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center (RPSLMC) in Chicago. His doctor (Glantz) has been treating Dad since 1978. They have done approximately 6-7 procedures recently. The results have been mixed. Too early to tell, no improvement, some improvement, great improvement, etc. He would not recommend surgery for my Dad based on age, and extent of progression. He totally disagreed with the WSJ article that also cited "brain damage" as that is a subjective guess as to the progress of PD, and with my dad can change from day to day. Right now, since they are performing a limited number of procedures , they are using an arbitrary age of "about 70" as a cut off. He also believes that the pallidotomy is most effective with patients who experience a large range of on again, off again symptoms. My Dad is about the same from day to day. My sister who visits once a year see the progression more that my Mom and I can. Glantz said he would consider a Stage 3-4 on/off patient as a possible candidate for surgery. Kathi, hope this helps and Chicago is certainly closer to Detroit than Phoenix. Glantz also said that this is the RPSLMC criteria right now, and that may change as their experience, success or lack of success etc. changes. Other facilities, I'm sure, have different criteria. (Pretty wordy for my first try. Yell at me if I over did it!) Sara Byron [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]