Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease PDF

Preface

Parkinson's disease (PD) remains a major cause of neurological disability affecting millions of patients worldwide. While pharmacotherapy remains the primary treatment of PD symptoms, surgical therapies have enjoyed a resurgence in the successful treatment of patients with advanced PD and complications of drug therapy. In carefully selected patients, deep brain stimulation (DBS) is now considered one of the most important advances in PD therapy. Our expanding knowledge of basal gangla physiology and refinements in neurosurgical technique have combined to fuel the development of a procedure that has dramatically improved the lives of numerous patients with severe, advanced PD. As with any novel therapy, enthusiasm must be tempered with the knowledge derived from ongoing research and clinical experience. Costs and surgical risks must be weighed against quality of life and a realistic appraisal of the likelihood of success. Since the very first literature on DBS for treating PD appeared in the late 1980s, there have now been over 30 thousand procedures performed worldwide. While there have been many articles published on DBS in the last five years, the field is continuing to evolve and it is therefore timely to review the current state of DBS therapy in PD. Contributors to this volume have been involved with DBS from a variety of disciplines and have worked to refine the procedure, carefully monitor its effect on motor and non-motor symptoms, and better define both preoperative patient selection and post-operative management. The text should be of interest to those practicing neurology, neurosurgery, rehabilitation medicine as well as to ancillary health professionals working in clinical neuroscience.