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Last Tuesday my wife had surgery...Deep Brain Stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus.  It involves inserting a wire lead deep into the brain near the area where pallidotomies are performed.  There are electrodes on the end of the wire lead which connect to a stimulator implanted (like a pacemaker) under the skin near the collarbone.  Unlike a pallidotomy, there is no permanent damage to the brain.  Instead, stimulation gets the brain back in balance.  The surgery is technically still experimental, but it is being done at a number of locations worldwide (several in the US) and some insurance companies are paying for it.

Everything went very well.  They let the brain heal for one month before they activate the stimulator, so we will know more then.

DBS may be much safer than a pallidotomy and help a wider range of symptoms.  There is a lot of info on the NYU website:

http://mcns10.med.nyu.edu/CMD/CMDmain.html


Let me know if you want more information.

Jeff