Unilateral stereotactic posteroventral globus pallidus internus pallidotomy for Parkinson's disease: surgical techniques and 2-year follow-up.

With the advent of levodopa (L-dopa) and the recognition of its striking effect on Parkinson's disease (PD), virtually all surgical procedures for PD ceased from the mid 1960s. However, there has been a resurgence of pallidotomy and other stereotactic procedures in the last two decades as physicians realized that most PD patients eventually face medical failure after long-term treatment with L-dopa. Nine PD patients, three men and six women, with an average age of 62 years and disease duration of 13 years underwent unilateral globus pallidus internus (GPi) pallidotomy contralateral to the side with marked akinetic symptoms and drug-induced dyskinesia.