Treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease
Keywords:When even the best medication no longer sufficiently helps in the motor fluctuations caused by advanced Parkinson's disease, invasive treatment options may be considered: deep-brain stimulation, and levodopa or apomorphine infusions.
We are a pioneer in the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease. Our movement disorder unit is the largest in volume in Finland.
You need a referral for treatment at our unit, and a neurologist specialized in movement disorders will evaluate the referral at our Neurology Outpatient Clinic. Our treatment team implementing the treatments also includes a neurosurgeon, abdominal surgeon, radiologist, and neuropsychologist. Invasive treatments cannot be used if you suffer from severe dementia or severe psychosis. At least a short-term response to levodopa is a requirement for the treatment. The only exception to this rule is drug-resistant tremor, which usually responds well to deep-brain stimulation.
You will have an appointment at our unit with a neurologist specialized in movement disorders to discuss your symptoms and current status of health. Your wishes will be taken into consideration when choosing the type of treatment, but the neurologist will make the final decision. Further examinations are always performed to confirm the treatment decision; for example, a levodopa challenge test can be taken to evaluate the treatment response.
The invasive treatments of advanced Parkinson's disease in our unit are implemented according to international criteria and our clinical pathways score well in international comparison.
First in Finland milestones of HUS's unit for motor disorders:
- 1995 Deep-brain stimulation surgery
- 2005 Levodopa infusion test
- 2006 Modern clinical pathway for deep-brain stimulation
- 2017 Use of new directional electrode
- 2017 Apomorphine infusion therapy
Units
Neurology Outpatient Clinic, Meilahti Tower Hospital
At the Neurology Outpatient Clinic at Meilahti Tower Hospital, we treat neurological patients.