Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road: Successfully Running a Comprehensive DBS Program, One of Its Kind in North Mumbai
9 Years Later, 64-Year-Old Woman Struggling With Parkinson’s Disease Finds Relief
In a groundbreaking achievement, a 64-year-old woman with advanced Parkinson's Disease has been given new hope through Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Surgery. This novel surgery marks a significant milestone in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, one of its kind in North Mumbai at Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road under its unique and comprehensive DBS program offering state-of-the-art technology and facilities under one roof. Led by Dr. Mansi Shah, Consultant Neurologist and Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Specialist at Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road along with Dr. Naren Nayak, Functional Neurosurgeon, this awake DBS surgery is promising in dramatically improving the patient's quality of life after years of battling worsening symptoms.
Patient Mrs Sangeeta Bharwada (Name Change), a resident of Bhayander was living with Parkinson’s Disease for nine years which impacted every aspect of her life. She had tremors, slowness in all the activities, and stiffness. Gradually, she developed an imbalance & freezing gait while walking. It started with left-sided symptoms and then it gradually progressed over time. Initially, her response to medication was good. However, as the disease progressed, she experienced a decline in her symptoms, including increased slowness, rigidity, tremors, freezing episodes while walking, and significant motor fluctuations that proved challenging to manage with medication alone.
Dr. Mansi Shah, Consultant Neurologist and Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Specialist at Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road said, “Parkinson's is a progressive disease and the main symptoms of this patient were slowness in all the activities, rigidity & gait difficulties. Initially, she was well-controlled with the medications and was on various dopaminergic medications. However, as the disease progressed, her symptoms worsened. Despite being on medication, she had disabling off states which means the state in which Parkinsonian symptoms reappeared. On-states means when the medication shows effect. So the whole day, more than 70% of the time, she spent off-state, and on-state with Dyskinesis (excessive movements) and other motor fluctuations. Also, she could not tolerate higher dosages of medications. She underwent pre-surgical evaluation for Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery, which is one of the advanced therapeutic options for Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders and was found to be a suitable candidate for DBS.
DBS is ideal for those patients with Parkinson's Disease who are at least 4 to 5 years into the disease with some benefit from the medications but have lots of motor fluctuations. DBS is a form of neuromodulation, wherein 2 thin wires called electrodes are inserted in the specific brain areas. This area is constantly being stimulated with the help of a pacemaker, which we place below the collarbone. The DBS stimulation will be on for 24 hours and will provide better control of her symptoms, it improves the quality of life of the patients. The patient underwent the surgery on the 28th of October. After five days in recovery, she was discharged from the hospital.
With a DBS surgery done recently, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road is successfully running a comprehensive DBS program, one-of-its-kind in North Mumbai and its suburbs. It was an awake surgery and included intraoperative clinical and neurophysiological assessments said Dr. Mansi
“The stimulation was switched ON and the first programming was done 2 weeks later. She showed a very good response to the stimulation with better control of her Parkinson's symptoms, and a reduction of the medication dosages has also been achieved. Hence, DBS should be considered as a therapy of choice in patients who have difficulty controlling Parkinson’s disease.” added Dr Mansi.
The family members of the patient expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Wockhardt Hospitals. “After enduring a challenging journey for more than nine years, we are relieved that the skilled team, headed by Dr. Mansi Shah, has been able to help my wife. She can now gradually regain the ability to manage her daily activities independently,” concluded the patient’s husband Mr Ajay.