Functional neurosurgery for Parkinson's disease has become a mainstream concept with DBS as the prime modality. This article reviews the latest and, in the eyes of the authors, the most important developments in DBS, lesioning and gene therapy. In DBS, emerging advances have focused on the timing of surgery relative to disease duration and severity, and new targets, technologies, and equipment. For lesions, new ultrasound techniques are emerging based on successes in other movement disorders. Gene and cellular therapies, including stem cells, remain only in the research realm.
Keywords: DBS; Parkinson; closed loop; current steering; focused ultrasound; frameless; functional neurosurgery; gene therapy; intra-operative CT; intra-operative MRI; surgery.
© 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.