Device shows promise to treat cerebral palsy type

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Zapping the brain with a mild electrical current appears to help patients with a difficult-to-treat form of cerebral palsy, French researchers said on Wednesday.

Patients in the study were implanted with pacemaker-like devices known as deep-brain stimulators made by Medtronic Inc, which helped fund the study.

A team lead by Marie Vidailhet of Salpetriere University Hospital in Paris implanted the devices in 13 people who had cerebral palsy with dystonia-choreoathetosis, a common and progressively disabling movement disorder.

About 10 percent of patients with cerebral palsy have this condition, which is a secondary cause of dystonia, a movement disorder marked by involuntary muscle contractions.

There are no effective treatments.

Deep brain stimulators can improve movement problems in people with primary dystonia.

They are implanted either near the collar bone or the abdomen and connected by a wire to electrodes placed in the brain. A tiny generator sends electrical pulses to the brain to control movement.

In this study, Vidailhet attached the leads to the globus pallidus internus area of the brain, the same brain region targeted in dystonia patients.