ORAN – New therapies in the management of Parkinson’s disease and brain cancer in children were the main themes of the second international congress of neurosurgery, in which more than 450 national and international specialists took part on Saturday.
Organized by the neurosurgery department of the University Hospital Establishment (EHU) of Oran, this meeting saw the participation of specialists from Italy, France, Switzerland, Tunisia, Mauritania, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, among others.
The world-renowned neurologist, Pr Alim-Louis Benabid, who won the 2014 American “Lekcer” Prize for Medicine for his groundbreaking work on Parkinson’s, was also present at the meeting.
In a statement to the press on the sidelines of the opening of the congress, Pr Bachir Belebna, president of the Algerian Society of Neurosurgery (SANC) and head of the neurosurgery department at the EHU of Oran, underlined that this congress associated with the The 35th national congress of the SANC represents “a great opportunity for young surgeons to train alongside more experienced neurosurgeons, even luminaries of the specialty such as Pr Benabid”.
This congress will allow “to get in tune with the management of Parkinson’s, especially since this disabling disease is increasingly observed in Algeria in younger subjects barely 40 years old”, he assured, calling this situation “very alarming”.
In Oran, a waiting list of 250 patients to be operated on has been drawn up. The technique used is neuro-stimulation, which consists of placing electrodes on the nucleus of the brain, connected to a subcutaneous battery that produces shocks to regulate dopamine (neurotransmitter involved in the control of many functions such as voluntary movements ), we said.
“These operations are 95%, if not 100%, successful and the patient can resume his usual activities. This is a great step forward in this area”, highlighted Professor Bachir Belebna.
With regard to the care of patients, the specialist specified that “Algeria has the necessary skills and the most advanced technological means to ensure good care for Parkinson’s patients”.
As such, he specified that the kit of equipment and special sensors necessary for this neuro-stimulation technique costs around 30,000 euros. “The State has provided us with a financial envelope to equip ourselves and the crisis due to Covid-19 has frozen everything. However, we have resumed operation recently and we are awaiting the arrival of the necessary equipment shortly”.
He pointed out that phenomenal work is carried out by the neurosurgery departments, noting: “we are changing the way of life of patients with Parkinson’s by remedying their mobility and language difficulties in order to guarantee them autonomy”.
Several communications have been scheduled for the first day of the congress addressing, among other things, “the modern treatment of Parkinson’s disease” by Professor Benabid, who presented the novelties of the specialty and also his research on Parkinson’s for which he obtained the American distinction around its technique on “deep brain stimulation”.
Other communications, such as “the management strategy for essential facial neuralgia”, “cerebral stimulation” and “glioneuronal tumours”, one of the most widespread brain cancers, are on the program.