HIFU Procedure Offers a Life-Changing Solution for Essential Tremor
Kathleen Dirol’s life was turned upside down by essential tremor, a common movement disorder that causes your hands and arms to shake uncontrollably. But after undergoing High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, everything changed for her.
Essential tremor usually starts in the hands but can affect other parts of the body, like the head, voice, arms or legs. It can even run in families. For Dirol, it meant spilling drinks, tripping and struggling with her handwriting.
“Before I had the procedure, I just lived with it. I didn’t realize it was like part of me,” she told 10TV anchor Tracy Townsend.
One year ago, Dirol decided to try HIFU treatment. This procedure involves using a cluster of high-frequency ultrasound beams—thousands in fact—to target and heat a specific part of the brain responsible for tremors, effectively creating a controlled stroke to halt the tremors.
“When the procedure is completed, the patient and I can see it at the same time,” said Angela Hardwick, MD, a neurologist with OhioHealth. “‘I can make a straight line. I can write my name. I haven’t seen my name in forever by my own hand.’”
And its results are immediate.
“I thought I would have to practice writing my name,” Dirol said. “I wrote a beautiful name, and I took a glass and a straw and took a drink. I mean, I started to cry. I couldn’t believe it. It was instant.”
HIFU isn’t just a quick fix; it offers long-lasting relief. Dr. Hardwick said the effects of this three-hour treatment should last for the rest of a patient’s life.
According to the National Institute of Health, essential tremor can start at any age, but most often appears during adolescence or between the ages of 40 and 50.
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