Graphic Era Hospital sets new milestone

Graphic Era Hospital sets new milestone as
Pacemaker implanted in elderly women’s brain successfully
Dehradun,  April 3 Specialist doctors at Graphic Era Hospital have achieved success in treating Parkinson’s disease with surgery. This is the first case of its kind in Uttarakhand and its surrounding regions.
This achievement of Graphic Era has elevated the standard of medical care in the state. Patients suffering from movement disorder not longer need to travel to big cities for treatment. Director of Neuroscience Department, HoD of Neurosurgery department and leader of the surgery team Dr. Partha P. Bishnu said that the women who was suffering from Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease was treated by using Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery. In this case, 67 years old woman from Dehradun was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease seven years ago and had been struggling to perform daily activities. She had lost control over her body movements. Despite undergoing prolonged treatment in various hospitals, she found no relief and was brought to Graphic Era Hospital. After several rounds of check-ups the specialists recommended her DBS surgery for the treatment.
Dr. Bishnu said that in this surgery, a small device is implanted inside the patient’s brain. This device sends electrical impulses to specific areas of the brain, functioning like a brain pacemaker. It helps in regulating the abnormal neural activity responsible for motor symptoms. In this case, the device will control the subthalamic nucleus in a regulated manner. This procedure was stereotactically guided using virtual reality software. Two thin microelectrodes were placed on both sides of the brain and were connected with a pulse generating battery. The patient remained awake throughout most of the procedure without anaesthesia while the neuroanesthesia team was continuously monitoring the patient closely. This procedure was completed in seven hours.
He further stated that in complex cases like this, surgery is the only viable treatment. Since this type of surgery had never been performed in Uttarakhand or nearby regions before, it was much more challenging and critical. Given the age of the patient the use of anaesthesia was another big challenge. Post surgery, the patient was immediately relieved and the symptoms of the disease such as tremors, stiffness and imbalance are significantly improving.
The specialists in surgery team shared in-depth insights on DBS surgery. Dr. Neha Agarwal from this team said that parkinson’s patients even after taking medicine are can function normally for only two to three hours. Most of the time they are on ‘off mode’ and require assistance in basic activities such as walking. After DBS surgery the patient will be able to carry out daily activities for 24 hours without any difficulty. Dr. Ankur Kapoor said that world class technologies such as 128 slice CT scan and 3 tesla MRI at Graphic Era allowed precise brain imaging before surgery. Dr. Payoz Pandey said that this surgery was meticulously planned after evaluating all possible risks. Dr. Shekhar Babu highlighted the importance of proper councelling of patients in such critical cases. Dr. Jyoti Gautam shared information on programming process. He said that the frequency of pulse generator is gradually increased. After 3-4 days the optimal settings for the patient are set.
This team of experienced and senior specialists included Dr. Partha P. Bishnu along with Dr. Neha Agarwal, Dr. Payoz Pandey, Dr. Jyoti Gautam, Dr. Ankur Kapoor, Dr. Shekhar Babu, Dr. Nikhil Sharma, Dr. Swati Singhal and Dr. Rijesh. Medical Director Dr. Punit Tyagi and Dean of Medical College Dr. S. L. Jethani were present in the press conference.
Notably, specialists at Graphic Era have achieved several milestones before this case including opening a blocked esophagus (food pipe) with operation, implanting third pacemaker in a four year old boy, performing open heart surgery without cutting bone, using only 2.5 inch incision and replacing two heart valves simultaneously without incision.