Once a diagnosis is made, the medical team employs the most advanced treatment options available, including deep brain stimulation for surgery to treat essential tremor, Parkinson's disease and dystonia. Therapeutic goals are symptom-driven and focused on maintaining patients at the highest level of function possible. Medical regimens are tailored to patient age, prominent symptoms and the potential side effects profile.

Our treatment philosophy is based on the early identification of disease and early use of neuromodulating or neuroprotective approaches. All medical regimens are individually constructed based on the stage of illness.

Movement Disorders Specializations

The movement disorders team at Mischer Neuroscience Institute specializes in the following disorders:

• Alzheimer's disease
• Ataxias/cerebellar disorders
• Cerebral palsy
• Cortical and subcortical dementias
• Essential tremor/tremor states
• Gait disorders
• Generalized and focal dystonias
• Huntington's chorea
• Multiple sclerosis-related movement abnormalities
• Parkinson's disease
• Parkinsonian disorders
• Spasticity management
• Spinal and brain trauma-related movement abnormalities
• Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA)
• Wilson's disease

Movement Disorders Treatment Options

The movement disorders team at Mischer Neuroscience Institute performs the following therapeutic interventions:

• Botulinum toxin therapy for movement disorders
• Deep brain stimulation surgery (DBS)
• Intrathecal baclofen therapy (ITB)
• Medical management

Rehabilitation for Parkinson's and Movement Disorders

Rehabilitation is integral to our patient outcomes. Upon admission, patients and their families discuss their goals with our interdisciplinary care team.  Together, we develop a treatment plan to identify goals and plan of care.

TIRR Memorial Hermann is the only center in Houston - and one of only seven designated centers in the nation - in the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network.

Weekly Clinical Care Conferences

Patients undergo detailed testing using rating scales, timed tests and video documentation at the Clinical Research Center at Memorial Hermann-TMC. Subsequently, patient cases are discussed in detail, and treatment decisions are reviewed during weekly clinical care conferences.

UTHealth Medical School | Department of Neurology | Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery