While such operations were used to treat advanced Parkinson's symptoms during the 1950s and '60s, they were largely abandoned when drug treatment became available. This operation is not for everyone,' says John Growdon, MD, MGH neurologist. Most patients are treated successfully with medication. But each patient is unique, and a few, like Mr. Weeden, develop exaggerated responses to the drugs that can be just as disabling as the illness. Why making a lesion in the brain can relieve Parkinson's symptoms is a mystery.
Some evidence indicates that part of the globus pallidus is overactive in the disease.
The lesion may suppress that area and partially restore the lost balance between neurotransmitter systems. G. Rees Cosgrove, MD, the MGH neurosurgeon who performs pallidotomies, has now done a total of eight operations, seven of them at the MGH, which currently is the only hospital in New England offering the procedure. To the MGH Neurosurgery Attending Staff or the MGH Physician Referral Service homepages. Click on the Bulfinch building to return to the MGH Neurosurgical Service hompage. It should not be used for treatment purposes, but rather for discussion with the patient's own physician.