SALT LAKE CITY – In a move that signifies the evolution of the University of Utah Movement Disorders Program into a major referral center for the care of individuals with Parkinson’s Disease, 肌张力障碍, 特发性震颤和其他运动障碍, 学校宣布劳伦·施洛克, MD, has been appointed Medical Director of the Deep Brain Stimulation Program. Paul 房子, MD, Neurosurgeon, has been appointed Surgical Director. Both are newly created positions recognizing the long-established collaboration of the two specialists.
作为内科和外科主任. 施洛克 and 房子 will work together to guide the program’s growth and development. 该大学临床神经科学中心的一部分, the Deep Brain Stimulation Program provides comprehensive care for patients with Parkinson’s Disease, 地震, 肌张力障碍 who are possible candidates for DBS as well as providing ongoing care for patients who have DBS.
“The DBS program at the University of Utah has some of the best outcomes of any center in the nation”, 说Stefan-M. Pulst, MD, Dr med, Chair of the U’s Department of Neurology. “The number of DBS patients we care for has more than doubled over the past two years – both from initial diagnosis and evaluation as well as patients who have been referred here for secondary expert consultation for those patients whose DBS device was implanted elsewhere but failed to be effective.”
“We are lucky to have the only fellowship-trained experts in DBS in the region here at the University of Utah”, 理查德·沙姆韦说, Director of the University’s Clinical Neurosciences Center. “With their leadership in these roles and continued support from the University, we are working to create one of the top DBS centers in the nation here in Salt Lake City.”
“Dr. 房子 is the most highly qualified neurosurgeon in the region in functional and stereotactic neurosurgery”, 继续Pulst. 他和奥巴马医生都说. 施洛克 trained at one of the world’s top centers for movement disorders. Lauren [施洛克]’s training in intraoperative physiology for guidance of DBS placement is unmatched. Together, they are one of the most sophisticated DBS teams not just in the region, but nationwide.”
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment involving the implantation of a medical device sometimes referred to as a “brain pacemaker”, which sends electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain. These impulses inactivate the parts of the brain that cause the symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement disorders, 包括地震. 除了PD, deep brain stimulation in select brain regions has provided remarkable therapeutic benefits for otherwise treatment-resistant movement and affective disorders such as chronic pain, 震颤和肌张力障碍. The University of Utah Clinical Neurosciences Center is the only facility in the intermountain region offering DBS to patients with 肌张力障碍.
“用深部脑刺激, the vast majority of people (over 70%) experience a significant improvement of all their symptoms related to Parkinson's disease”, 博士说. 施洛克. “Most people are able to significantly reduce their medications and improve their quality of life. 在很多情况下, daily living tasks that were impossible due to tremor can once again become part of a person’s routine.”
Deep brain stimulation has many advantages over other interventions and therapies, according to Dr. 房子. “第一, DBS does not require purposeful destruction of any part of the brain and therefore, has fewer complications than other surgical procedures designed to reduce tremor. 除了, the electrical stimulation is adjustable and can be changed as the person's disease changes or his or her response to medications change. No further surgery is necessary to make the adjustments, and in the rare cases where a patient experiences negative side effects, 这个装置可以完全关闭.”
“最后”, 继续施洛克, “as new treatments become available – such as gene therapies – we do not see DBS interfering with a patient being eligible for those options where appropriate.”
新主管们对这个项目有雄心勃勃的目标. “未来3-5年, in addition to expanding our ability to offer DBS and improve care for patients with DBS, we will focus on expanding our research into improving the technology for neuromodulation therapies such as DBS”, 说房子. “We are actively involved in helping to create the next generation of devices and therapies for individuals with these conditions.”
“增加社区外展和教育, both to patients and to physicians throughout the region is another priority”, 施洛克说:. “Physicians and patients should know that they can access the highest level of care right here in the region. As the incidence of movement disorders increases because of the aging population and other factors, we have created a program to evaluate patients for DBS as well as provide excellent care for them long-term.”