Ziekte van Parkinson Deep Brain Stimulation
PARKINSONCHIRURGIE
Diensthoofd: Dr. Chris van der Linden
Tel. 0032 (0)9 224.65.28
The Movement Disorders Center was founded in 1998 when Dr. C. van der Linden, who was trained in the United States at the University of Texas, Medical School and Baylor College of Medicine moved from the University of Ghent, Belgium, dep. of Neurology to Sint-Lucas Hospital. The Movement Disorder program from the University Hospital, Ghent, moved to the Sint-Lucas Hospital to further expand the deep brain stimulation surgery program. In combination with the department of Neurosurgery, Dr. Henry Colle, who has now performed over 100 patients with various movement disorders for deep brain stimulation.
The Movement Disorder Center has now become a large referral center for movement disorders in Belgium and beyond.
The selection criteria for surgery are very strict and only a small portion of the movement disorder patient population will be a candidate for surgery.
The majority of the patients are treated with pharmaceutical agents, physical therapy and botulinum-toxine infiltrations.
The goal of the treatment is to improve the functional ability of the movement disorder patients and in particular to improve the routine-day activities. For a thorough diagnostic work-up, most patients are initially admitted to the hospital, where various examinations are performed to confirm the initial diagnosis. The deep brain stimulation is performed in patients with Parkison’s disease and patients with tremors. Patients with cervical dystonia and general dystonia are being treated with deep brain stimulation in our institution. In addition, two patients have been operated with the Syndrome of Gilles de la Tourette, after which there was a reduction of 80% of the tics. A selected group of cervical and generalized dystonia patients also had deep brain stimulation in particular pallidum stimulation. Surgical patients are coming from Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and the United States. The reason for the surgery in patients from the USA is that the costs of surgery in the USA for some patients is not being reimbursed and that the difference in costs for surgery is extremely large between the two countries. For example in the US a hospitalization of nearly four days is offered to Parkinson disease patients ,in Belgium there is a hospitalization of two weeks, which improves the quality of the post-operative care and helps to adjust the stimulation parameters while hospitalized.
In conclusion:
The Movement Disorder Center of the St-Lucas Hospital, Ghent, has become a major referral center for movement disorders through the country and beyond. Its success depends on the close cooperation between the various departments, such as neurosurgery, nursing, neuropsychology, physical therapy, neuroradiology and the movement Disorder Center.