>Return-Path: <[log in to unmask]> >From: "P&B Fahr" <[log in to unmask]> >To: "janet paterson" <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Re: NEWS-STN-Cuban Neurosurgeons Report Success >Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 06:20:02 -0500 > > >Why go for 60% improvement with cell destruction when >you can get virtually 100 % improvement with DBS of the >STN. And stimulation can be changed in the future if >necessary. > >Paul >-----Original Message----- >From: judith richards <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] ><[log in to unmask]> >Date: Saturday, October 16, 1999 8:37 AM >Subject: NEWS-STN-Cuban Neurosurgeons Report Success > > >ANA: Cuban Neurosurgeons Report Success In Treating >Advanced Parkinson’s >By Edward Susman - Special to DG News > >SEATTLE, WA -- October 14, 1999 -- Cuban neurosurgeons >report success in >treating advanced Parkinson’s disease patients by >destroying the >subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep within the brain. > > The bilateral lesioning of the STN gives better than >a 60 percent >improvement in Parkinson’s disease hallmarks such as >motor control and >freezing of motion, said Dr. Lazaro Alvarez Gonzalez, >MD, a neurologist >who has performed the surgery on 11 patients. > > The patients first underwent unilateral lesion of >the STN. When that >seemed to control motor function on one side of the >body, a second >operation was performed about six months later. > > Now, Dr. Alvarez said, both STNs are lesioned during >the same >operation - a procedure that has been performed a half >dozen times. He >said that by performing the bilateral ablation patients >are spared a >second operation and hospital costs are reduced. > > Patients have been followed for up to two years, and >the improvement >has been sustained, Dr. Alvarez and his colleagues >reported at the 124th >annual meeting of the American Neurological Association, >in Seattle, WA. > "STN requires less extensive surgery than >pallidotomy or deep brain >stimulation," Dr. Alvarez said. "DBS also requires >pacemaker-like >devices which is not needed in STN, reducing costs." He >said that in >non-Western economies cost-containment is a major issue >and one of the >reasons he and his colleagues at the Clinic for Movement >Disorders >(CIREN) in Havana began looking at STN ablation. > > "Hyperactivity of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a >hallmark of the >Parkinsonian state," Alvarez said, and that >hyperactivity can be >observed with CT-scanning of the brain. Once the site is >located, a >needle probe is inserted into the STN. Radio frequency >heats the needle >and about a 4 cubic millimeter lesion erases the STN, >said Dr. Raul >Macias, neurophysiologist and assistant professor oat >CIREN. > > The researchers are working in conjunction with >doctors at Emory >University and in Spain. > >All contents Copyright (c) 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group >Inc. All rights >reserved. >Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada >[log in to unmask] > ^^^^ > \ / > \ | / Today’s Research > \\ | // ...Tomorrow’s >Cure > \ | / > \|/ > ````` >