A New Life for Huberto: The First International Surgery to Control Parkinson at HIC

• Huberto Urdaneta traveled from Venezuela to Colombia to undergo a Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) procedure, a crucial device in the advanced management of Parkinson's. This decision made him the first international patient to receive this procedure at HIC.

• The DBS sends electrical impulses to the brain that replicate the function of dopamine (a neurotransmitter whose deficiency is characteristic of advanced Parkinson's).

• Parkinson’s is the second most common degenerative disease after Alzheimer's. It is estimated that around 6.1 million people worldwide live with this condition, and only about 10% of this population are candidates for DBS implantation.

Bucaramanga, Colombia - July 2024. Huberto Urdaneta, a 62-year-old Venezuelan from Maracaibo, has been battling Parkinson's disease for over a decade. This neurodegenerative disorder affects the areas of the brain that control movement. For him, it started as tremors and progressive stiffness in his movements but gradually became a daily challenge to lead a regular life.

His wife, Anllelith Torres, recalls how the disease deeply affected his independence and quality of life to the point where he could not walk, eat, or go to the bathroom on his own, "He had always been a very independent person, but because of the disease, it has been necessary to be very attentive to everything he does because he has been unable to carry out many of his daily activities."

It was then that they decided to explore options beyond their home country. After researching and contacting several specialists, they chose the Hospital Internacional de Colombia (HIC), renowned in the region for its expertise in functional neurosurgery to treat Parkinson's. Dr. Jorge Castellanos, a neurologist specialized in movement disorders at HIC, explained that after numerous exams and rigorous follow-up on his case, Huberto was a candidate for surgery, as the medications that had helped control his symptoms for many years stopped producing the expected effect.

Initially, the disease responded excellently to Levodopa (a flagship medication for patients with this disease), although this effectiveness decreased over time. That means the initial effect of the medicine in the patient lasted three or four hours, and eventually lasted between an hour or less. "Starting from there, for him, a Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery presented a promising option to continuously and stably improve his quality of life", says Dr. Castellanos, who added that with this surgery, Huberto became the first international patient to receive this device at HIC.

To explain what DBS is, Dr. Mauricio Rueda Acevedo, a neurologist specialized in movement disorders who accompanied the patient process, specifies that this procedure involves the insertion of thin wires, known as electrodes, into specific areas of the brain responsible for motor control, such as the subthalamic nucleus (brainstem). These electrodes are connected to a brain pacemaker located under the collarbone, and the device generates continuous electrical impulses that replicate the function of dopamine (a neurotransmitter whose deficiency is characteristic of advanced Parkinson's disease).

To control these impulses, the treating physician uses an external programmer to adjust the parameters of the brain stimulator. These include the frequency of the electrical impulses, the duration of each impulse, and the intensity of the stimulation. "With these electrical stimuli, what we seek is to try to restore the nerve pathways that are malfunctioning due to the lack of dopamine."

Rueda Acevedo emphasizes that surgery does not cure the disease nor eliminates the need for medication, but it does control the symptoms more stably throughout the day. "Fine-tuning the device's parameters is done in several sessions to optimize the results according to the patient's individual needs," he adds.

Weeks after the procedure, Huberto's life had a new beginning. The device not only allowed him to regain independence for daily activities such as dressing or walking with his family, but it also significantly reduced the need for oral medication. He needs to take fewer pills, and his disease can be much more controlled.

Parkinson’s Statistics Worldwide

Parkinson's is the second most common degenerative disease after Alzheimer's. It is estimated that around 6.1 million people worldwide live with Parkinson's disease, and approximately 160,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.

Of 100% of diagnosed Parkinson's cases, about 10% are candidates for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery.

Since 2013, the Hospital Internacional de Colombia(HIC) began implanting these devices, reaching over a hundred national patients implanted to date.