NEWPORT NEWS — Riverside Health System announced it is now offering a new ultrasound procedure for the treatment of essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease.
Neurosurgeons at Riverside Regional Medical Center (RRMC) performed the first Focused Ultrasounds treatment at RRMC on Monday, Sept. 19.
According to Riverside, “The procedure uses sound waves to precisely ablate deep brain targets that cause tremors with no surgical incisions. The treatment is performed in a single session under the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) guidance for high-resolution visualization of the patient’s anatomy for precise targeting, real-time temperature monitoring, and immediate confirmation of treatment outcomes. The result for many patients is immediate improvement of tremors with minimal complications.”
Riverside stated that the new procedure will work with the existing, compatible MRI unit at Riverside Regional Medical Center (RRMC).
“We do a lot of work with the patient. We want to see their tremor, and then we want to make sure we’re correctly targeting the area of the brain that’s involved,” said Neurologist with Riverside Neurology Specialists, Dr. Jackson Salvant. “We can do a couple of test treatments without causing any other permanent side effects. Once we see that we are getting the desired effects with the tremor being reduced and that we’re not seeing any unwanted side effects, then we can go ahead and give what I would call a full dose of energy with the ultrasound waves of that particular area of the brain. The anticipation is that we would see at least a 60, but up to 90 percent reduction of the tremor.”
For more information on movement disorders and the different treatments available at Riverside health system, please head over to Riverside Health System’s official website.