PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) An estimated 10 million Americans are living with a condition most commonly misdiagnosed as Parkinsons Disease called essential tremor (ET), and doctors in Rhode Island are able to help treat it with neurosurgical technology.<\/p>\n
Rhode Island Hospital is only the second facility in New England to obtain the technology, with the first being at Brigham and Womens Hospital.<\/p>\n
Essential tremors are described as the uncontrollable trembling of the hands, head, voice, legs or body.<\/p>\n
While the condition isnt life-threatening, Dr. Wael Asaad tells 12 News it can severely impact a persons quality of life.<\/p>\n
It can impact every aspect of daily living, Asaad explained. It can impact your daily ability to eat and drink, it can impact your ability to get dressed.<\/p>\n
Asaad, a neurosurgeon with expertise in movement disorders, psychiatric disease and traumatic brain injury, said the treatment involves a Focused Ultrasound (FUS), a non-invasive treatment in which ultrasonic energy targets tissues deep within the body and treats the brain circuit responsible for the patients tremors.<\/p>\n
Its a big helmet that fits around your head, Asaad said. You go into an MRI scanner, and we can deliver the energy from over a thousand sources in this helmet to focus it very precisely at a single spot, just a millimeter or two across.<\/p>\n
The first device was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in 2016.<\/p>\n
While the treatment is fairly new, Asaad expects that most people who receive it will not need to return for additional appointments.<\/p>\n
But the disease can get worse over time, and tremors can continue to get worse, Asaad said. So, a treatment that you give at one time may not be enough to treat the tremor later on if the tremor is getting worse.<\/p>\n
As a field, were getting better and better at knowing how to maximize a procedure to minimize the chance that theyll have to come back for another treatment later, he continued. But our hope is that for most people, this is a permanent benefit.<\/p>\n
In addition to treating essential tremors, the Focused Ultrasound can also be used to reduce the signs and symptoms of Tremor-Dominant Parkinsons Disease.<\/p>\n
At least five patients have received the treatment at Rhode Island Hospitals Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute since late last year, according to Asaad.<\/p>\n
Each one of them has had a very dramatic improvement in tremors, and nobody has had any concerning side effects, Asaad said.<\/p>\n
Alfred Pagliarini, 80, of Hope Valley, received the treatment for an essential tremor in his left hand.<\/p>\n
So, Ive got to shift everything to my right hand, which sounds like a simple thing, until you try doing it, Pagliarini said on the day of his treatment.<\/p>\n
Asaad said the procedure is performed while the patient is awake, so their response to treatment can be assessed in real time.<\/p>\n
Before the treatment, Pagliarini was asked to trace a spiral shape and draw a straight line on a sheet of paper with both hands.<\/p>\n
Mid-treatment, he was assessed and asked to repeat the task to see if his tremor was improving. He then performed the drawings a final time to once the treatment was complete.<\/p>\n
The results in Pagliarinis case showed an improvement.<\/p>\n
When we do deep brain stimulation for tremors and theres that moment when you turn the stimulator on and the tremor stops, its a breathtaking moment, Asaad said. Now we see that same benefit without even having to use a scalpel, a totally noninvasive procedure. It feels like magic, and the patients are kind of blown away.<\/p>\n
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Read more:<\/p>\n
'It's like magic': Cutting-edge technology available in RI to treat essential tremors - WPRI.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) An estimated 10 million Americans are living with a condition most commonly misdiagnosed as Parkinsons Disease called essential tremor (ET), and doctors in Rhode Island are able to help treat it with neurosurgical technology Continue reading