PALLIDOTOMY TECHNIQUE AND RESULTS - THE NEW-YORK-UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE

The authors relate the New York University experience with 171 pallido tomies performed on 160 consecutive patients over a 6-year period. Det ails of their patient selection criteria, operative technique, prelimi nary clinical results, and surgical complications are reported. They c onclude that unilateral posteroventral pallidotomy is a safe and effec tive treatment for a subset of Parkinson's disease patients who suffer with rigidity, bradykinesia, tremor, and L-dopa-induced dyskinesia. P atients with Parkinson's Plus syndromes can be definitively identified with positron emission tomography and do not improve with pallidotomy . The routine performance of bilateral pallidotomy remains controversi al.