Yesterday, Medtronic, Inc. announced a new software to help identify patients that were good candidates for the Deep Brain Stimulation procedures (DBS) to treat Parkinson’s Disease.  Over 900 patient profiles were analyzed using this software.  This software evaluates the Parkinson’s patient symptoms and predicts the effectiveness of DBS on that particluar patient based on the score they receive. 

Deep brain stimulation has become more popular as a method for coping with this debilitating disease.  The insertion of probes into the brain interrupts the signals that mis-fire and cause tremors, balance issues and other impairment of motor-activity.   Currently, some surgeons perform two surgeries, one to place the implants in the brain, and one to install the small battery pack that delivers the constant electrical current which interrupts the spastic signals from the brain to the rest of the body.

Medtronic, Inc. is the leading provider for these leads that are left in a person’s brain, and also for the monitoring equipment and battery packs to operate and fine tune the probes.

Recently I attended two seminars that describe the procedure at length.  Medtronic sponsored the first seminar and distributed DVDs that go into great detail to inform the patient and their families about the procedures and the risks.  The second seminar was the annual convention of the neuro-pharmocologists to review progress being made while developing new drugs and procedures for dealing with PD.

I am not at the point in the progression of my disease where I will qualify for DBS any time soon.  However, learning as much as possible, asking questions and attending meetings has helped me understand the significance of a few important factors:

1. The experience of the neuro-surgeon is imperative.  After listening to a neuro-surgeon who has performed hundreds of these procedures and then listening to a neuro-surgeon who has performed less than 100, I can tell you the one I want cutting into MY brain.
2. The experience of the neuro-surgeons’ operating team is critically important.  Personally, I don’t want my neuro-surgeon spending his time and energy coaching his OR staff while my brain is wide open.  I want the expertise of the OR staff to have the procedures down in a systematic and habitual order.
3. Lastly, I do NOT want to have to be hospitalized twice to get this accomplished.  There’s no reason the battery pack cannot be implanted at the same time the rest of the DBS is done.  Now, that doesn’t mean the battery pack has to be turned on.  But I do not want to increase my risk for infection.  And besides that, just because a facility can make MORE money by bringing the patient back for a second surgery, that is not the optimal way to treat a patient.

I know there are many of you out there considering this type of procedure.  You, too, have done your research, and I welcome your comments, thoughts and approaches to managing your Parkinson’s Disease.