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Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder that affects the group of nerve cells in the brain responsible for producing dopamine. A chemical messenger, dopamine helps to transmit signals from one group of brain cells to another to facilitate muscle movement. Over time, these dopamine-producing brain cells are lost, affecting a patient’s walk, arm movements and facial expressions. Other features of the disease include tremor, slowness of movement (bradykinesia), rigid muscles (rigidity) and postural instability.
Parkinson’s disease is most often treated with drugs which attempt to mimic the presence of dopamine in the brain. However, prolonged pharmaceutical use can lead to severe dyskinesias (large, uncontrollable body movements), hallucinations, and freezing episodes. Drug effectiveness also tapers off after time and does not offer a permanent solution. In recent years, surgeons have introduced a variety of minimally-invasive surgeries to create marked improvement in patients struggling with tremors, imbalance and muscle rigidity. The movement disorder specialists at the Los Angeles Neurosurgical Institute blend their active clinical research with evidence-based practices to provide cutting-edge treatment to patients living with movement disorders and Parkinson’s disease. Our elite surgical team offers some of the following operative treatment programs for our patients:
Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) procedures place small wire electrodes in the brain tissue which are then programmed to deliver a mild electrical pulse to help reorganize the brain’s electrical impulses, relieving the patient’s symptoms. A pulse generator connected to the electrodes in the brain is implanted under the patient’s collarbone and is programmed to deliver continuous electrical signals to the brain—it can be turned on or off or adjusted with ease.
Deep brain stimulation is often used in tandem with drug therapies to produce symptom relief. The Los Angeles Neurosurgical Institute is one of the only practices on the West Coast that has more than12 years of experience successfully implanting, monitoring and adjusting deep brain stimulation units for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders.
Stereotactic pallidotomy
Stereotactic pallidotomy procedures define a group of overactive cells in the brain responsible for the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease using high resolution stereotactic imaging techniques and microelectrode recordings. Once identified, surgeons destroy excess cells by creating a small lesion in the brain while the patient is awake. This procedure can help to correct problems involving slow movement, tremor and imbalance.
Stereotactic thalamotomy
Stereotactic thalamotomy surgeries are performed to ease disabling tremors specifically in the hands or arms of patients with few other symptoms. Like the stereotactic pallidotomy, the stereotactic thalamotomy is done using a stereotactic headframe attached to the head with the surgical target in the brain defined by MRI technology.
MOVEMENT DISORDERS &
PARKINSONIAN CONDITONS TREATED
At the Los Angeles Neurosurgical Institute Include:
ATYPICAL PARKINSONISM
DYSKINESIAS
DYSTONIAS
ESSENTIAL TREMOR
FAMILIAL TREMOR |
HEMIBALLLISMUS
MULTIPLE SYSTEM ATROPHY
PARKINSON’S DISEASE
TORTICOLLIS |
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION
To schedule a consultation or to obtain a second opinion with a Los Angeles Neurosurgical Institute specialist,
please call: 877-MD-LANSI (877-635-2674) or email us at info@lansi.org.
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