Dear Debbie,
USC and Cheryl Waters have passed through some interesting transitions
concerning Pallidotomies over the last several years. I went to see
Cheryl. four plus years ago, to consult with her concerning my Parkinson'=
s
Disease. At that time she strongly discouraged me from having a
Pallidotomy and in particular from having one with the certain doctor I h=
ad
chosen. =
To make a long story short, I went ahead and had the Pallidotomy
with spectacular results. When I went back to see Cheryl 6 months after =
my
surgery she was still unwilling to admit to the efficacy of the Pallidoto=
my
although she had to admit I was dramatically improved. She was not willi=
ng
to recommend the procedure to other patients including a good friend of
mine who was about to have a Pallidotomy at USC with a doctor who has sin=
ce
left USC. My friend had his Pallidotomy at USC with average results.
My understanding is that USC has hired a Dr. Dogali to perform
Pallidotomies. Dr. Dogali was let go from his former place of employment
U.C. Irvine amidst a good deal of controversy. The bottom line seemed to=
be that he was not performing enough Pallidotomies nor getting good enoug=
h
results. I know that USC was getting geared up to do Pallidotomies last
fall. Admittedly I have been out of touch with some of the developments =
in
the Southern California area since moving to Pittsburgh from LA three
months ago.
Bottom line for the Pallidotomy patient is you do not want to be =
on
a surgeon's learning curve when he/she is performing this delicate
operation. In fact, this is why in my opinion so many centers are
switching over to the stim implants. =
Don
Dr. Don Berns
110 Delano Dr.
Pittsburgh, PA 15236
412-650-6812
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