In a study published in the “New England Journal of Medicine” co-authored by Dr. Vibhor Krishna, associate professor of neurosurgery at the UNC School of Medicine, researchers show that a new focused ultrasound treatment improved dyskinesia and motor impairment in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
For this pivotal trial, the researchers randomly assigned 94 Parkinson’s disease patients with dyskinesias or motor impairment to undergo either focused ultrasound ablation or a “sham” procedure. The primary outcome was a response to therapy at three months, defined as a decrease of at least three points from baseline either in the score on the Movement Disorders Society–Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, part III (off medication state), or in the score on the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (on medication state). Secondary outcomes included changes from baseline to month three in the scores on various parts of the Movement Disorders Society–Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale.
Sixty-nine patients were assigned to undergo ultrasound ablation, and 25 underwent the sham (control) procedure. In the focused ultrasound group, 65 patients completed the primary-outcome assessment, while 22 in the control group completed the study. In the focused ultrasound group, 45 patients (69%) had a response, as compared with 7 (32%) in the control group.
The adverse effects related to ablation of the globus pallidus were infrequent and included speech difficulty, visual disturbance, and gait difficulty – in one patient each. There was one serious adverse event documented one week after the treatment in one patient.
