The Movement Disorder Surgery program at the University of Pittsburgh offers patients and their families a number of different surgical treatment options for their movement disorder. Movement disorders suitable for treatment include Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, primary or secondary dystonia, tremor from multiple sclerosis or brain injury, and other movement disorders.

Procedures offered:

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS, thalamus).
Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation is performed for the treatment of one-sided tremor (right or left hand) from either Parkinson’s disease or Essential tremor (intention tremor).

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS, subthalamus).
Subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation is performed in patients with advanced and disabling Parkinson’s disease. It can be performed either on one side or on both sides of the brain.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS, globus pallidus).
Pallidal Deep Brain Stimulation is performed mainly for patients with dystonia but can also be performed for patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Surgery is performed both in children and in adults.

Gamma Knife® Surgery.
Gamma Knife surgery is used to create a thalamotomy (lesion of the thalamus) for the management of tremor. The tremor can be from essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis. Gamma knife radiosurgery is mainly performed in patients who have medical risks that make open surgery hazardous or those with advanced age. It is also performed in patients who wish to avoid open procedures.

Stereotactic Thalamotomy
(RF thalamotomy; RF pallidotomy): Stereotactic lesioning of deep brain targets has been performed for decades for the management of movement disorders. The most common procedure is a pallidotomy, used to treat advanced Parkinson’s disease, and in particular, dyskinesia. (See also paper on Outcomes after stereotactic pallidotomy for advanced Parkinson's Disease.)

Movement Disorder Surgery Program Faculty

• Neurosurgery
Douglas Kondziolka, MD
L. Dade Lunsford, MD

• Neurology
Sarah Berman, MD
Edward Burton, MD
J. Timothy Greenamyre, MD, PhD
David A. Hinkle, MD, PhD
Samay Jain, MD
Robert Moore, MD

• Neurophysiology
Donald Crammond, MD

• Radiation Oncology
John Flickinger, MD