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GW Hospital is proud to be the first adult-care hospital in the metropolitan Washington–Northern Virginia region to add MRI-guided focused ultrasound to its intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) system. It can offer patients with essential tremor and Parkinson’s Disease a less invasive approach to treatment.
The treatment requires no incisions, sedation or radiation. Dr. Zachary Levine, a board-certified neurosurgeon at GW Hospital and a fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, uses MRI technology to guide ultrasound waves in real time to precise locations in the brain.
The high-intensity ultrasound energy treats the tissue causing the symptoms. While the procedure does not eliminate the disease, it can eliminate certain symptoms, improving patients’ quality of life. The effects of the treatment are immediate, and patients can return home the same day.
Levine discusses this exciting outpatient procedure.
How does the procedure work?
Levine: Using ultrasound, we can target the cells responsible for tremors or symptoms.
The MRI helps visualize exactly where the ultrasound energy is going, down to the cubic millimeter or less. Coupling ultrasound with MRI enables us to achieve a result that we could not before without cutting the skin.
I have seen people enter the MRI scanner with their tremor and leave without the tremor on the side that we treated.
Why must patients remain awake during the procedure?
Levine: We want to see the patient’s progress throughout surgery. The only way to do that is to have the patient participate throughout the operation. We have them draw spirals on a piece of paper and mimic drinking from a bottle of water. We have them do the same tests before we get going, during the procedure and at the end of the procedure.
What do patients experience during the procedure?
Levine: The only thing they hear is the ticking and buzzing of the MRI. The ultrasound is such high frequency patients cannot hear it.
How long does MRI-guided ultrasound take?
Levine: It is about two hours from the time we start to the time we let them go. We take patients in and out of the MRI scanner during the procedure. The total ultrasound time, when we actually are applying ultrasound, is about 50 seconds.
How do patients react to the outcomes after the procedure?
Levine: MRI-guided focused ultrasound is an outpatient, life-altering procedure that really can change lives. The patients say, “I can’t believe this. My tremor’s gone.”
I absolutely love this operation. I think it is the most elegant surgery I do. You can affect somebody so much without even making an incision, but the procedure requires a great deal of experience.
How does this procedure position the GW Hospital Neurosciences Institute as a standout program?
Levine: There is a wide-open future for MRI-guided focused ultrasound. GW Hospital really understood the value of this. The hospital has always been known for its excellence in neuroscience and is the first adult-care facility offering this kind of treatment in the metropolitan D.C. area.
This is going to allow GW Hospital to treat people with essential tremor disorder as outpatients when medicines fail for Parkinson’s disease and associated tremors. We can now offer a full complement of treatments.
Let the GW Hospital family care for you and yours.
To find a doctor, call 888-4GW-DOCS (449-3627) or visit doctors.gwhospital.com.
Learn more about MRI-guided ultrasound at gwhospital.com/imri.
*Individual results may vary. There are risks associated with any surgical procedure. Talk with your doctor about these risks to find out if neurological surgery is right for you. Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of The George Washington University Hospital. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. For language assistance, disability accommodations and the nondiscrimination notice, visit our website.