Parkinson's Motor Symptoms Improve With Focused Ultrasound

Just maybe you want this from your doctor with your risk of getting Parkinsons. 

Parkinson’s Disease May Have Link to Stroke March 2017 

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Parkinson's Motor Symptoms Improve With Focused Ultrasound

— Adverse events were frequent, with some persisting 4 months or longer

by Judy George, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today December 23, 2020

Focused ultrasound in one brain hemisphere improved motor function on the opposite side of the body in people with Parkinson's disease, but led to frequent, persistent adverse events, a small sham-controlled trial showed.

In a select group of patients with markedly asymmetric Parkinson's signs, focused ultrasound subthalamotomy led to a significant improvement in Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor scores (MDS-UPDRS III) at 4 months compared with sham treatment, with a between-group difference of 8.1 points (95% CI 6.0-10.3, P<0.001), reported Raul Martinez-Fernandez, MD, PhD, of CEU San Pablo University in Mostoles, Spain, and co-authors.

"This randomized, sham-controlled trial showed that focused ultrasound subthalamotomy performed in one hemisphere improved the motor features of Parkinson's disease on the more affected side at 4 months," they wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Adverse events such as dyskinesias, motor weakness, and gait and speech disturbances were frequent and persisted in several patients," Martinez-Fernandez and colleagues noted. "These results are similar to outcomes in uncontrolled series of stereotactic radiofrequency subthalamotomy for the treatment of Parkinson's disease."

Changes from baseline MDS-UPDRS motor scores for the more affected side varied, ranging from 5% to 95%, and were more apparent for tremor and rigidity reduction than bradykinesia.

Among 27 patients treated with focused ultrasound subthalamotomy, adverse events included:

• Dyskinesia in the off-medication state in six patients and on-medication state in six patients, which persisted in three patients and one patient, respectively, at 4 months
• Weakness on the treated side in five patients, which persisted in two patients at 4 months
• Speech disturbance in 15 patients, which persisted in three patients at 4 months
• Facial weakness in three patients, which persisted in one patient at 4 months
• Gait disturbance in 13 patients, which persisted in two patients at 4 months