Alexian Neurosciences Institute Introduces Deep Brain Stimulation; Technique Provides Hope for Parkinson's Patients.

Health/Medical Writers

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 10, 2003

Alexian Brothers Hospital Network, in cooperation with the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), has introduced an advanced surgical technique that can dramatically reduce the tremors and other involuntary movements associated with Parkinson's disease.

Known as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), the technique involves placing either one or two electrodes deep within the brain and connecting them to a pacemaker-like device that emits electrical impulses to stimulate the part of the brain that makes motor movements smooth and timely.

A surgical team headed by Konstantin Slavin, M.D., performed the first DBS surgical procedure on October 29 on an elderly male Parkinson's patient at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village. The patient, who had experienced difficulties with tremors, is "doing extremely well," says Mark Frey, Vice President of the Alexian Neurosciences Institute. The surgery was the first of its kind ever performed in Chicago's northwest suburbs.

"This neurosurgical procedure produces impressive results for select patients," Frey says. "Their gaits and rigidity ordinarily improve as a result of this procedure, and tremors often times decrease dramatically. The procedure offers tremendous opportunity and hope in cases where medications are no longer working effectively."

Melanie Brandabur, M.D., Medical Director of the National Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence and Movement Disorders Center at the Alexian Neurosciences Institute, says candidates for the procedure include patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease for whom medication has improved motor functions but has begun to yield less predictable results.

Many Parkinson's patients encounter this problem, she says. "Most patients at a certain point will have times when the medication is working and they're `on,' and other times when it's not working and they're `off,'" Brandabur says. "For some patients, that occurs many times a day. The main point of this surgery is to decrease or eliminate those fluctuations so they can have consistently good functioning."

Deep Brain Stimulation also can be used to treat Essential Tremor, a non-Parkinson's condition characterized by tremors. The procedure can also be used to treat dystonia, a neurological disorder characterized by abnormal and involuntary muscle contractions and contortions, Brandabur says.

Alexian Brothers Hospital Network formed an alliance with UIC earlier this year to bring advanced neurosurgical techniques such as Deep Brain Stimulation to Chicago's northwest suburbs for the first time. As part of the relationship, neurosurgeons with both Alexian and UIC work collaboratively through the Alexian Neurosciences Institute, and UIC neurosurgeons perform surgeries at Alexian facilities.

The affiliation with UIC, which is ranked among the nation's top twenty neurology and neurosurgical programs by U.S. News and World Report, allows suburban Chicago residents to receive timely, top-tier treatment for neurological illnesses without having to travel to downtown Chicago for treatment.

The Alexian Neurosciences Institute - www.alexian-neurosciences.org - and Alexian Brothers Medical Center are part of Alexian Brothers Hospital Network, which also includes St. Alexius Medical Center and Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and the new Alexian Rehabilitation Hospital in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.