Subject(s)
Brain/surgery , Parkinson Disease/surgery , Stellate Ganglion/transplantation , Stereotaxic Techniques , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neurosurgical Procedures/methods , Stellate Ganglion/cytology , Stem Cell Transplantation/methods , Stem Cell Transplantation/trends , Transplantation, Autologous/methodsABSTRACT
Transplantation of autologous sympathetic ganglion was performed in 35 patients with Parkinson's disease. Approximately half the patients showed improvement of parkinsonian symptoms over the 3 years following transplantation. The patients showed amelioration of bradykinesia and gait disturbance, but tremor and muscle rigidity were not improved by transplantation. The other half of the patients did not show amelioration after transplantation. No serious complications were encountered, though mild ptosis was observed in all patients. The mechanism of improvement of symptoms might be the release of dopamine from the grafted sympathetic ganglion. Transplantation of autologous sympathetic ganglion can be a therapeutic modality for Parkinson's disease.
Subject(s)
Caudate Nucleus/surgery , Parkinson Disease/surgery , Putamen/surgery , Stellate Ganglion/transplantation , Adult , Aged , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Parkinson Disease/diagnosis , Stereotaxic Techniques , Transplantation, Autologous , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The authors have reported a clinical trial of an autologous cervical sympathetic ganglion transplanted into the brain of a parkinsonian patient. A 45-year-old woman presented with bradykinesia and a gait disturbance for 8 years under L-dopa treatment. The patient underwent stereotactic transplantation of the right stellate ganglion into the right putamen. She showed marked amelioration of bradykinesia and gait disturbance 1 month after the operation, and she was able to conduct her activities of daily living without requiring L-dopa administration. The patient continued to improve gradually until 3 months after the operation. Two years after surgery, the patient functions independently as a housewife. The right hand tremor, however, became slightly worse after the operation, but it was transient. The patient developed a permanent right-sided Horner's syndrome after resection of the cervical sympathetic ganglion. Taken together with our previous data obtained from animal experiments, this case suggests that the autologous cervical sympathetic ganglion can be donor tissue for neural transplantation in Parkinson's disease.
