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WorldView

Study Shows Thalamic Stimulation Gives Better Results Than Thalamotomy in Treatment of Essential Tremor

Aired February 20, 2000 - 8:16 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: Anyone who suffers from tremors knows how debilitating they can be. The constant movements and shaking often disrupt the tasks of daily living. Now, a study shows two treatments that can control those movements.

Here now is CNN medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jane Shriver sang in piano bars for years, but she had to give it up because of essential tremor.

JANE SHRIVER, ESSENTIAL TREMOR PATIENT: It got to where I couldn't, I just couldn't hold a mike, and it was embarrassing.

ROWLAND: Medications were no longer controlling her tremor, so doctors suggested a type of surgery called thalamic stimulation. While the patient is awake, doctors implant an electrode to simulate a part of the brain called the thalamus. The electrical signal is controlled by a pacemaker device in the chest. The procedure can also help people with Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis.

There's a similar surgery called thalamotomy. In this procedure, the part of the brain causing tremor is destroyed. It's the procedure actor Michael J. Fox underwent for Parkinson's disease.

MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: I had hidden my symptoms and struggles very well, through increasing amounts of medication, through surgery...

ROWLAND: But which surgery is better? A study in "The New England Journal of Medicine" compared thalamic stimulation and thalamotomy, and found both equally effective in controlling tremor. But patients who got thalamic stimulation had fewer side effects and better overall results.

DR. MAHLON DELONG, CHAIR OF NEUROLOGY, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Patients who got stimulation were able to do more on their own, their activities of daily living. Their sort of the functional benefit for their day-to-day, activities was greater.

ROWLAND (on camera): The two surgeries, thalamotomy and thalamic stimulation target only that part of the brain that controls tremor. But doctors have taken these procedures a step further, targeting other parts of the brain.

(voice-over): In Parkinson's patients, doctors can now use surgery to control other symptoms, such as stiffness and rigidity. After surgery to one side of her brain, Jan Shriver's right side is almost tremor-free. She says she can even sing again.

Rhonda Rowland, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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