Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Aug;13(8):1342-1345.
doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.235220.

Current surgical treatments for Parkinson's disease and potential therapeutic targets

Darrin J Lee  1 , Robert F Dallapiazza  1 , Philippe De Vloo  1 , Andres M Lozano  1
Affiliations
Review

Current surgical treatments for Parkinson's disease and potential therapeutic targets

Darrin J Lee et al. Neural Regen Res. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Currently, the most common surgical treatment for Parkinson's disease is deep brain stimulation (DBS). This treatment strategy is typically reserved for bradykinesia, rigidity and tremor in patients who no longer respond to medication in a predictable manner or who suffer medication-induced dyskinesias. In addition to DBS, ablative procedures like radiofrequency, radiosurgery and focused ultrasound are also utilized for select tremor symptoms. In this review, we discuss evolving surgical techniques, targets, and emerging technology. In addition, we evaluate potential paradigm shifts in treatment, including gene therapy, immunotherapy and cell transplantation. While these new techniques and treatment options are still in their infancy, advances in Parkinson's disease treatment are rapidly expanding.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; cell transplantation; deep brain stimulation; focused ultrasound; gene therapy; immunotherapy; pallidotomy; thalamotomy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

AML is the consultant for Medtronic, St Jude, Boston Scientific, and Functional Neuromodulation

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Current and potential surgical treatments for Parkinson's disease. VIM: Nucleus ventero-intermedius.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bartus RT, Weinberg MS, Samulski RJ. Parkinson's disease gene therapy: success by design meets failure by efficacy. Mol Ther. 2014;22:487–497. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bond AE, Shah BB, Huss DS, Dallapiazza RF, Warren A, Harrison MB, Sperling SA, Wang XQ, Gwinn R, Witt J, Ro S, Elias WJ. Safety and efficacy of focused ultrasound thalamotomy for patients with medication-refractory, tremor-dominant parkinson disease: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Neurol. 2017;74:1412–1418. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brice J, McLellan L. Suppression of intention tremor by contingent deep-brain stimulation. Lancet. 1980;1:1221–1222. - PubMed
    1. Cooper IS. Chemopallidectomy: an investigative technique in geriatric parkinsonians. Science. 1955;121:217–218. - PubMed
    1. Follett KA, Weaver FM, Stern M, Hur K, Harris CL, Luo P, Marks WJ, Jr, Rothlind J, Sagher O, Moy C, Pahwa R, Burchiel K, Hogarth P, Lai EC, Duda JE, Holloway K, Samii A, Horn S, Bronstein JM, Stoner G, et al. (2010) Pallidal versus subthalamic deep-brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease. N Engl J Med. 362:2077–2091. - PubMed