Operating the most delicate area of the human body - the human brain - is risky as well as a tough job to accomplish. Parkinson’s disease and Dystonia are neurological disorders that often require neurosurgeons to operate on patients. Success stories in the sector are many to recount, and Bengal surely has reasons to be proud.
Kolkata shows the way
Surgeries in the brains are the last resort, if and only if medications fail to work. A complicated operation involving the installation of a brain pacemaker in the patient’s brain often becomes essential in these cases. Doctors in Kolkata have earlier succeeded in planting brain pacemakers in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. Kolkata is the only city in Eastern India that provides this kind of complex deep brain stimulation surgery with success, that too since 2010. New Delhi, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore are the other places in India where this surgery is carried out.
According to an estimate, 50 out of every 1 lakh people in Kolkata are suffering from Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system.
Recently, doctors in Kolkata attempted the installation of brain pacemaker in a patient suffering from Dystonia and met with success. The installation process for Dystonia in our city is very rare. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder, in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures.
Souvik Chakraborty, a resident of Jadavpur was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease; he suffered from involuntary movement of hands and other body parts. For four years he was under medical treatment, but his condition started deteriorating. He was then diagnosed of Dystonia, which doctors thought occurred due to the side effects of the prolonged use of medication. According to the advice of renowned Neurosurgeon Dr LN Tripathi, surgery was chosen as the only remedy when the combination drugs for Dystonia did not work. The operation took place in a private hospital near EM Bypass.
A complicated procedure
The process was quite complex. CT Scans and MRI were done to mark the area where the pacemaker was to be installed. A part of the device was first installed in his chest. Then through a small hole made in the brain with the aid of sophisticated software, the wire of the device was introduced in the particular spot where the neuron was not functioning properly. The neuron started working again due to the introduction of the pacemaker and the continuous movements stopped. The pacemaker with rechargeable batteries can work for 10-15 years and the ones with simple batteries can go on working for 7-8 years.
Parting Thought
Souvik got a new lease on life, thanks to the city surgeons who made it possible. Souvik has a fondness towards photography which had to be kept on hold due to his medical condition. Now he is ready to follow his passion.
