PROVIDENCE – A team of Lifespan Corp. neurosurgeons used new technology to target the section of the brain responsible for severe tremors during a successful procedure on July 30.
Surgeons performed an incisionless thalamotomy using “focused ultrasound energy guided by magnetic resonance imaging to treat the brain circuit responsible for the patient’s tremors,” according to a statement from Lifespan.
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The procedure, done at Rhode Island Hospital, treats patients with Parkinson’s disease whose tremors do not respond to medication, as well as patients with essential tremor.
Surgeons used an MRI to locate the source of the tremors in the brain, and a specially designed helmet to send large amounts of energy into patients’ skulls to defuse the problem while leaving surrounding brain tissue undamaged. Patients remain awake for the entire procedure.
Dr. Wael Asaad, director of Lifespan’s Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute’s functional neurosurgery and epilepsy program, performed the procedure.
Tremors in Parkinson’s patients are often mild, he said, but for some, they affect patients’ daily lives.
“There is a significant number of patients for whom the condition is more severe and debilitating, impairing a wide variety of routine daily activities such as eating, writing and getting dressed,” Asaad said. “For those individuals who cannot find relief through medications, this procedure offers an effective, cutting-edge option without the cutting.”
Patients who undergo the two to three-hour procedure can go home the same day.
“Having treated hundreds of people with tremors and other movement disorders, I can attest to the devastating effects these disorders can have on the lives of patients and their families,” said Dr. Umer Akbar, a neurologist and co-director of the movement disorders and deep brain stimulation programs at Rhode Island Hospital. “Using medical and surgical interventions, our program has improved the lives of many living with these conditions, and we are thrilled to add another cutting-edge tool to our repertoire.”
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
