(Watch now: See how a remarkable new technology now available at Marcus Neuroscience Institute helped Boca Raton journalist Marci Shatzman’s Essential Tremor with just one outpatient procedure and instantly restored her quality of life. Video by Plum Productions.)
For Marci Shatzman, a longtime journalist, civic booster and community volunteer in Boca Raton, covering local news and events has always been a privilege and a passion. Much of her work entails attending events with business leaders, local officials and other professionals, and the 77-year-old self-described “workaholic” is a frequent and familiar sight at chamber networkers, charity galas and community happenings around town.
When on an assignment, Ms. Shatzman’s tools of the trade are strictly old school: a ballpoint pen, a spiral-bound notebook and a journalist’s innate curiosity. But scribbling notes while standing and talking with someone is difficult, if not impossible, when you suffer from Essential Tremor (ET) as Ms. Shatzman does – or did, until just recently.
Ms. Shatzman was first diagnosed with ET more than 20 years ago. However, the shaking in her hand had grown uncontrollable in recent years and Ms. Shatzman felt increasingly self-conscious having people see her struggle with the condition, which affects more than 10 million adults in the United States.
“It has been very distressing to be a public person with the shaky hand,” she says. “Even though people are very gracious here and they are very nice about it, I was feeling so self-conscious.” At one event, Ms. Shatzman was having noticeable difficulty when Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation president Mark Larkin, whom she’s known from her many years of covering the hospital, walked over to say hello.
A New Hope for Essential Tremor (ET)
Timothy Miller, M.D., neurosurgeon and director of functional neurosurgery at Marcus Neuroscience Institute.
Ms. Shatzman recalls the moment Mark shared the good news after the event and said, “We have a new technology at Marcus Neuroscience Institute that I think will help clear that (shaky hand) up.”
Ms. Shatzman was thrilled at the news. “You can’t imagine how relieved I was to find out that there was actually something I could do about my ET.” She was referred to neurosurgeon Timothy Miller, M.D., director of functional neurosurgery with Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health.
“Essential tremor is a miscommunication between different parts of the brain,” explains Dr. Miller. “It is more common as we age but it can occur at any age and without treatment it becomes progressively worse over time.”
How Essential Tremor affects quality of life
What stood out to Dr. Miller in Ms. Shatzman’s case was the severity of her tremor, he recalls. “It had gotten much, much worse over the past few years to the point where she was unable to even hold a cup of coffee or a bottle of water to drink. It had really affected her quality of life.”
At home, opening jars, pouring beverages, applying makeup and doing other basic tasks proved impossible so Ms. Shatzman had to rely on help from her devoted husband of 43 years, Brian Feldman. If she wanted a glass of juice, he would pour the glass half-full so she wouldn’t spill it. She would then use her left hand to steady her shaky right hand and carefully guide the glass to her lips.
Ms. Shatzman had tried medical therapy, according to Dr. Miller, but medications didn’t prove helpful in her case so they discussed other treatment options. He explained the two main surgical options for patients with ET – Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and High-intensity Focused Ultrasound (HiFU).
What is High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HiFU)?
According to Dr. Miller, HiFU is an incisionless, painless outpatient procedure that sends more than 1,000 beams of ultrasound through the skull to target and destroy lesions that are disrupting the brain’s normal circuits. “With HiFU, soundwaves destroy the cells causing the tremor,” says Dr. Miller. “The results are immediate, long-lasting and durable, improving the quality of life for our patients right away.”
Ultimately, Ms. Shatzman decided to proceed with HiFU because it is non-invasive and doesn’t require any incisions, so there is no risk of infection. “And unlike DBS, no implantable devices are required. People like the idea of not having something implanted in their body if they can avoid it,” Dr. Miller notes.
Functional neurosurgeons at Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute have been using HiFU to treat hundreds of ET patients with great success, and it is the technology Mark Larkin referred to when he told Ms. Shatzman that Marcus Neuroscience Institute would be getting “a new machine” to treat her ET.
“The idea that… I’ll have a steady hand again is unbelievable to me. I can hardly wait,” Ms. Shatzman said just days before her procedure. “It’s such a Godsend and I can’t believe it’s actually happening.”
First Day of HiFU at Marcus Neuroscience Institute
Fast-forward to August 2, when Ms. Shatzman had the distinction of being one of the first ET patients at Marcus Neuroscience Institute to be treated with the novel HiFU technology on the day of its launch. In order to gauge its effectiveness, Ms. Shatzman was asked before and after the procedure to trace a continuous line within a multi-ringed spiral. Before treatment, she was unable to follow the spiral and her lines were all over the place. Afterwards, she was able to keep her hand steady enough to trace the spiral’s lines.
“We evaluated her both before and after her treatment and her tremor was severe before and significantly reduced after,” Dr. Miller reports. “We don’t always expect 100 percent improvement of the tremor but hers was improved to the point where she was able to hold a cup and drink, which is something she hasn’t been able to do in many years.”
Seeing his patient improve so quickly and so dramatically is “a little bit emotional,” admits Dr. Miller. “It makes me really happy and it’s really gratifying to see somebody improve so quickly in a way that I know will be affecting her quality of life so positively.”
Dr. Miller says HiFU is “a life-changing option” for those whose lives have been disrupted by debilitating disorders such as ET and tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease. “It’s the most up-to-date technology and the newest way that we can treat these patients safely and effectively in a non-invasive manner. And it’s not available anywhere else in Palm Beach County.”
“Look at this, look at this,” says Ms. Shatzman excitedly as she holds her right hand open with her palm to the floor and then holds a juice box with a steady hand, almost without any trace of tremor. “I could not ever have done that. I’m just glad I’ve lived long enough that I can take advantage of this.”
The ability to offer the HIFU treatment at Marcus Neuroscience Institute was made possible through philanthropy.
