Increasing Utilization of Deep Brain Stimulation in Clinical Practice: Fiona Gupta, MD
The assistant professor of neurology and director of the Movement Disorders Outreach Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center shed some light on the use of DBS in the clinic and how it has evolved as a therapeutic option for patients with Parkinson disease. [WATCH TIME: 2 minutes]
WATCH TIME: 2 minutes
“I remember when I first started, [deep brain stimulation] was sort of reserved for last-line therapy, and now, I’m so happy to see it is evolving. We’re using it at earlier stages when patients can really reap the tremendous benefits that deep brain stimulation provides. In my opinion, really, all clinicians dealing with [patients with] Parkinson disease should have a good level of understanding, and even if they may not be part of a center that is performing it, know where to refer, to really create this pipeline to be able to get patients to the right place.”
In the management of Parkinson disease (PD) and other movement disorders, neuromodulation methods have truly emerged in the past 15 years as effective options for patient care. Although, as is often the case when new therapeutics come into the fold, the uptake of them can be slow. In the case of deep brain stimulation (DBS), the literature suggests that patients can get real benefit from its use, and it offers a nonpharmacologic option for individuals who do not achieve full benefit from other therapies.
Fiona Gupta, MD, an assistant professor of neurology and director of the Movement Disorders Outreach Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center, has seen the evolution of DBS in the clinic over her career. The increasing use of it as a first- or second-line option for patients, in her opinion, reflects just how far the use of DBS has come. At the 2nd Annual Advanced Therapeutics in Movement and Related Disorders (ATMRD) Congress, held by the PMD Alliance from June 8 to 11, 2023, in Washington, DC, she sat with NeurologyLive® to shed some light on the use of DBS in the clinic and how it has evolved as a therapeutic option for patients with Parkinson disease.
Additionally, she discussed the ongoing partnerships among clinicians—between physicians and advanced practice providers, for one—and how they have influenced the use of DBS, as well as the increasing level of patient buy-in for it. Gupta spoke about the various capabilities of the different DBS systems and the constant advancement of the technical aspects of this modality, from increasing battery life to improved stimulation techniques. She also noted how important meetings and congresses like ATMRD are to the ongoing discussions and education on DBS.
