INDIANAPOLIS -
A central Indiana patient had tremors that caused her to shake so badly that she couldn't brush her teeth or even hold a cup of water. It was progressing to the point she feared she'd have to quit her job. Then her doctor recommended a new approach to solve her problem.
"When you hear brain surgery, you think, 'oh, my gosh,'" said Rhonda Walls, 46.
The fix for Rhonda Walls' essential tremor was daunting. But so too were the increasing challenges of everyday life despite medication.
Walls took cell phone video snippets showing her shake while writing, holding a coffee cup and even brushing her teeth.
"I was to the point 'Where do I give? What do I do?' I never had a doctor tell me that they could fix this," she said.
But her neurologists at St. Vincent believed a deep brain stimulator implanted while she was asleep instead of the tradition surgery done while the patient is awake could be the fix..
"There is about one percent of neurosurgeons who do this procedure asleep now in the country and I was one of the early trainees in this technique," said Dr. Albert Lee, St. Vincent neurosurgeon, Goodman Campbell Brain & Spine.
Dr. Lee implanted a generator with a battery and small computer in Rhonda's chest. It's similar to a pacemaker, but this device communicates with leads placed in the brain which deliver electrical impulses to stop the tremor signals. It's called Medtronic Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy (DBS), and it's used to treat Parkinson's, essential tremor and cervical dystonia.
While DBS isn't new, the latest development is how doctors are implanting it. Patients were fearful of being awake during the procedure; now it can be done while they're asleep using technology similar to GPS mapping for the brain.
"Once we turned the device on, her life was drastically altered. It's the most rewarding thing I do as a physician is that first time you turn off the tremor," said Dr. Mike Sermersheim.
Rhonda can adjust the device wirelessly with physician guidance to accommodate the daily fluctuations in her tremor strength.
"It's on right now but when I turn it off, you can see that I am already starting to shake," she said. "I can show you it's difficult to hold on to this glass of water and when I turn it back on, my tremor is gone."
The results are impressive. Doctors fear too many patients like Rhonda may be unaware of their options.
"We really feel like there is something we can do to help a lot of folks, not just in Indiana but in the region and feel like there are folks out there just suffering needlessly," said Dr. Lee.
Rhonda is so relieved she is relying on others less.
"It's pretty amazing when you go to work in the morning and write for yourself and pick up a cup of coffee and drink and not worry about shaking, it's amazing. The procedure is similar for Parkinson's patients," she said.
The key: many patients avoided a surgical fix because they feared being awake during frame placement and drilling. This advancement avoids that.
Note: The original story stated that Ms. Walls had Parkinson's. We have corrected the story to say she has essential tremor.
http://health.einnews.com/article/281269717/ffqPwYxnQp4C4LL4
http://www.wthr.com/story/29791726/new-procedure-controls-parkinsons-tremor-symptoms?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=11765786#.Vc9wUdiVYMo.gmail
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