Deep brain stimulation, increasingly recognized as an effective therapy for certain cases of Parkinson's disease, dystonia and tremor, also may help patients who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder or depression that fails to respond to other treatments.
A May 19 educational program for physicians and other health care professionals - particularly those who provide mental health care - will provide practical information and hands-on instruction in device implantation and programming. The conference will be presented by experts in movement disorders, psychiatry, neurodegenerative diseases and related specialty fields at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Michele Tagliati, MD, neurologist and director of the Movement Disorders Program, will open the day's events and lead sessions on deep brain stimulation device programming and troubleshooting. Neurosurgeon Adam Mamelak, MD, surgical director of the Movement Disorders Program and the Epilepsy Program, will discuss surgical issues and describe anatomical and electrophysiological targeting.
Other sessions will cover:
•Principles of patient selection.
•Neuropsychological assessment of DBS candidates.
•Psychiatric evaluation of DBS candidates.
•Patient-specific models of DBS programming.
•MRI and safety issues.
•DBS outcomes in movement disorders.
•DBS outcomes in obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression.
•Rehabilitation issues after DBS.
•Future directions in DBS therapy.
The conference will be at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows in Santa Monica from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 19, and continuing medical education credits will be available.
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