MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a common procedure for Essential Tremor and more recently has been used for Parkinson’s tremor.
There are two types, thallidomity and pallidomity, and they treat different areas of the brain. A laser causes a permanent lesion in the brain in the target area that e.g. fixes tremor and does not affect speech.
Pros: Incision-less for those with co-morbidities that make them not good surgical candidates (e.g. for DBS).
Cons: Permanent, hard to re-treat the same area if the lesion is not large enough (but can have re-treatment). Scarring around the original lesion. The second side may be harder to treat.
Post MRgFUS, you can see immediate results. As the condition progresses, you will still be able to take levodopa and adjunct therapies.
Being a fairly new procedure, long-term data is lacking, but is showing about 70% improvement in tremor over 5 years.
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