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Brain-implanted electrodes offer improved results for tremor sufferers
Fewer adverse effects compared to conventional brain surgery
(CNN)-- Implanting an electrode in the brain substantially improves physical functioning with fewer side effects in people suffering from Parkinson's disease and other tremor disorders, according to a study released Wednesday.
The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine and conducted in the Netherlands with patients experiencing drug-resistant tremor, compared two treatments:
Actor Michael J. Fox underwent the precise surgical procedure, or thalamotomy, for his Parkinson's disease. "I controlled my symptoms through medications, surgery," Fox said.
Dr. P. Richard Schuurman and his fellow researchers reported Wednesday:
"Thalamic stimulation and thalamotomy are equally effective for the suppression of drug-resistant tremor, but thalamic stimulation has fewer adverse effects and results in a greater improvement in function."
Patients in the study had severe tremor despite a year or more of drug therapy. Of 67 patients who completed the study, 45 had Parkinson's disease, 10 multiple sclerosis and 13 "essential tremor," a neurological disorder of unknown origin that affects about 5 million Americans, mostly older people.
"Tremor was suppressed completely or almost completely in 27 of 34 patients in the thalamotomy group and in 30 of 33 patients in the thalamic-stimulation group" who experienced "significantly fewer adverse effects" compared to patients receiving thalamotomies, the study said.
Researchers assessed the procedures' outcome by following up on patients six months after surgery. They compared their before-and-after abilities to work, prepare meals, wash clothes, pursue hobbies, read and perform other specific activities.
Also part of the study were comparisons of tremor severity in patients' arms, effects in mental status and the patients' own assessments of the outcome.
In conclusion, said the researchers, "Deep-brain stimulation does not restore normal brain function, and the ultimate goal is to delay or even reverse the neurodegenerative process. For the time being, thalamic stimulation is preferable to thalamotomy as a means of improving function with few adverse effects."
CNN Medical Correspondent Rhonda Rowland contributed to this report.
RELATED SITES:
The Parkinson's Web
National Parkinson's Foundation
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