Re: Surgery in China - Cheap

["J. R. Bruman" <jrbruman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ronald Reiner wrote:
>
> Is this technique something new?
>                         Ron Reiner (50/3)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Chinese Doctors Fighting Parkinson's Disease (1)
>
> April 22, 1998
>
> Xinhua  : BEIJING (April
> 21) XINHUA - More than 100 patients with
> Parkinson's disease have had their suffering
> alleviated by a surgical procedure in Xi'an, capital of
> northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
>
> Doctors have applied microelectrode technology in
> their operation, which can increase the precision of
> locating pathological cells in the brain, said Gao
> Guodong, director of the Neurosurgery Department
> of Tangdu Hospital attached to the No. 4 Medical
> College of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
>
> Gao told Xinhua today in a telephone interview that
> since the first successful operation in October,
> more than 110 patients have been operated on in
> his hospital with an effective rate of 100 percent.
>
> Parkinson's disease, which usually afflicts people
> 60 and older, is a nerve ailment characterized by
> trembling in the hands, muscle rigidity and a
> shuffling walk.
>
> The hospital has established an International
> Parkinson's Disease Treatment Research Center.
> Twenty patients from the Republic of Korea,
> Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong
> region have written letters asking for treatment in
> the center.
>
> The center currently carries out two operations
> every day, but many patients will have to wait until
> 2000 because of a shortage of beds.
>
> Gao said the treatment expense in the hospital
> averages 25,000 yuan (3, 000 U.S. dollars),
> compared with 30,000 U.S. dollars in the United
> States.
>
> Gao, 44, explained that he first cuts a
> centimeter-long hole in the patient's cranial bone,
> then sends the microelectrode into the brain to
> detect the pathological cells, and then kills those
> cells and blocks the wrong nerve conduction.
>
> A 73-year-old man living in Nanjing in east China
> had been plagued by Parkinson's disease and
> confined to bed for years. He couldn't turn over in
> bed unassisted. But ofter the operation, he
> immediately got out of bed and walked without help.
> (more) 21/04/98 09:08 GMT
No reason why the PRC could not acquire western technology, but
in such risky surgery I'd be cautious. I think perhaps some U.S.
patients have gone there in desperation to avoid the long delay
here, and I have at least one report of an American surgeon who
did a fetal transplant there because presumably he was unable to
set up practice here, but the patient died. Cheers,,
Joe

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J. R. Bruman   (818) 789-3694
3527 Cody Road
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013