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Brian: I think what Bonnie was getting at is the fact that pallidotomy actually creates a lesion, which means that it destroys a tiny piece of brain tissue. DBS does not destroy tissue, therefore is considered less invasive. Carole Cassidy At 08:43 AM 9/2/98 +0000, you wrote: >On Tue 01 Sep, Bonnie Cunningham, R.N. wrote: >> Dear Hillary: > >> Pallidotomy is intended to help symptoms such as rigidity and dyskinesias. >> This is the more invasive surgery of the two as a probe actually passes >> into the brain. >> >> DBS will control tremors only. This surgery requires that electrodes be >> placed ON the brain, so nothing actually passes through the brain. There is >> a control box that is implanted into the chest muscle, much like a cardiac >> pacer, with thin wires run up the vessels in the neck to the electrodes. >> >> While tremors can be very debilitating for some, it is more often that >> rigidity is the most debilitating part of PD. >> >> >> Bonnie Cunningham, R.N. >> Patient Services Director >> NPF >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> >Hello Bonnie. Are you SURE that the Deep Brain Stimulation operation >does not involve inserting probes into the brain? My understanding is >that a probe is inserted into the brain, in almost exactly the way that >is used during the Pallidotomy operation. The difference is that in the >case of a Pallidotomy a current is passed through the head of the probe, >which destroys the surrounding cells. The risk element exists because of >the possiblity of 'cooking' adjacent cells which are not involved with >Parkinsons. In particular the speech and eyesight functions are at risk. > >In the case of DBS, the same type of invasive probe is used, but it >carries with it trailing wires which are connected to a transmitter head. >The transmitter head is located at the point in the brain where the effect >is to be produced: If the DBS system is used to perform a Pallidotomy-type >operation, the transmitter head is located at the same place as in the >Pallidotomy, but the high frequency signal is non-destructive. So, if for >some reason it becomes necessary to remove the probe, this can be done, >and the brain reverts to its original mode. In a Pallidotomy the operation >is non-reversible. > >The risks in a DBS operation are thus lower than for a Pallidotomy. The >bad news is that the cost of the external hardware is much greater in the >DBS operation (several thousand pounds more), and this hardware requires >sevicing, battery changes, etc. > >-- >Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]> > > Carole Cassidy Director of Developmenet and Community Relations The Parkinson's Institute 1170 Morse Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94089 408-542-5628