DBS Leads
Extension wire
Neurotransmitter
(Battery pack)
suffering from Parkinson’s since her
late 40s. “She said she felt like she was
alive again,” he says.
One week after surgery, Dr. Jeevan
implants a battery pack and control
device for the electrode, called an
implantable pulse generator, within
the patient’s chest. The electrode in
the brain is connected to this battery
pack with wires beneath the skin. This
is an outpatient procedure that lasts
from 30 to 45 minutes. After patients
have sufficiently recovered from these
Watch Luetta’s story:
https://youtu.be/p-mD90vug14
procedures, Dr. Soileau turns on
the control device and programs it to
send the correct pulse to the electrode
in the brain. As Dr. Soileau adjusts
the signal via a remote control, the
patient’s symptoms cease. “Some
patients describe they feel like a weight
has been lifted or that they’re not
moving through molasses,” he says.
“As they leave after the programming
session, they have a new way of life to
get used to.”
Dr. Jeevan believes DBS will
become more widespread in the
future as research efforts continue for
its use in other conditions such as
epilepsy, obsessive compulsive disorder,
depression, and the tics associated with
Tourette’s syndrome.
One thing that’s clear is that all
patients at the Neuroscience Institute
benefit from the collaboration and
expertise of clinicians and staff. They
can trust that they’ve got the best care
by their side. “We’re lucky here at
Baylor Scott & White Health - Central
Texas that we have a Neuroscience
Institute that has multiple divisions
and multiple subspecialties where
we can offer these patients very
comprehensive neurological care,” says
Dr. Soileau. n
For more than 40 years, Luetta Mahavier,
85, suffered from essential tremors that
severely limited her quality of life. “I stopped
going out to eat because I couldn’t control
a fork,” she says. DBS helped Luetta regain
control of her life. “My hands weren’t shaking
anymore,” she says, “and now I can do all
these things.”
Gold Plus Elite
Award in stroke care
rewards integration
among departments
A Comprehensive Stroke Care
certification also seeks a
high level of integration of all
departments that treat stroke
patients, including neurology,
emergency care, and intensive
care. Dr. Rasmussen
already knows Scott
& White Memorial
Hospital - Temple
boasts that level of
integration. In May
the center received
a Gold Plus Elite
award from the
American Heart
Association.
“What I’m most proud of,” she
says, “is our Gold Plus Elite
award, which is the highest
quality award the American
Heart Association gives out. The
only way you get this kind of
award is when you have a high
amount of integration among
the emergency department,
neurology, the floor doctors,
and the ICU doctors, and the
radiologists—who all work
really hard to get patients
treated and seen very quickly.”
sw.org | Fall 16 THE CATALYST
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