News

North Shore Private Hospital doctors achieve 500th Deep Brain Stimulation surgery milestone

Mar 06, 2019

Two doctors from North Shore Private Hospital in St Leonards, Neurosurgeon Dr Raymond Cook and Neurologist Dr Paul Silberstein, along with the Sydney DBS team, have just completed their 500th deep brain stimulation surgery at the hospital. This is a significant achievement and a first for NSW.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a procedure where wires are implanted by a neurosurgical team in specific brain structures. This part of the procedure is performed while the patient is awake. The wires are then connected to a battery under the skin which provides 24 hour therapy to alleviate symptoms.

DBS is most commonly used to treat patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the 500th patient was a 70 year old male with Parkinson’s disease who decided to undergo DBS surgery to improve his quality of life. His most obvious symptom was a debilitating tremor.

PD is the second most common degenerative neurological disease in Australia after dementia, affecting an estimated 70,000 Australians. Every day, 32 Australians are diagnosed with PD..

For further information please visit: www.sydneydbs.com .