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New neurology doc to diversify program
Her dedication stems from an interest in movement disorders—not only Parkinson’s disease, but also lesser-known afflictions like dystonia, Huntington’s disease, and tic disorders.
“Dystonia is especially under- recognized and misdiagnosed,” Hinson said. “Four in 100,000 people have generalized dystonia, which presents as a twisted body posture. Thirty per 100,000 people have focal dystonia, which presents as abnormal, chronic muscle contractions in areas like the hand, face, or neck.” Hinson joined MUSC in August as director of the Movement Disorders Program,
an extension of the Parkinson’s Disease Program established by Kenneth
Bergman, M.D., Neurology, and Istavan Takacs, M.D., Neurological Surgery.
Hinson also began working on a study with Diana Vincent, Ph.D., Radiology, involving functional MRIs of healthy patients and patients with focal hand dystonia (so-called writer’s cramp). “We are currently the only institution in South Carolina offering deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for severe generalized dystonia,” she said. “A similar type of surgery has been very effective in Parkinson’s patients. We are excited to offer our dystonia patients access to the new treatment as well.” During the surgery, dystonia patients receive two electrode implants
placed in the predetermined area related to the misfiring of neurons in
the brain. The patient then benefits from a normal firing frequency, which
in turn helps relieve symptoms of the disorder.
“Although it is now used cosmetically, botox, or botulinum toxin, injections were originally developed for the treatment of focal dystonia,” Hinson said. “In terms of posture or pain, it helps tremendously.” Hinson mentioned a patient who was classified as legally blind because her dystonia affected her eyes. Without quarterly botulinum injections, her eyes would remain permanently shut. And while various media speculate on the safety of botox injections for cosmetic use, Hinson explained that because they're a localized treatment and targets a specific area, the injections result in no systematic side effects and are therefore safe for the treatment of dystonia patients. Hinson received her doctorate in medicine at the University of Hamburg, Germany, in 1995. She spent a year at Wake Forest University training in neurology specialities prior to a neurology internship at Westfaelische Wilhelmsuniversitaet Muenster, Germany. Hinson successfully completed a medical internship at MUSC in neurology in 1998 and her neurology residency in 2001, serving as chief resident her final year. During her time as an MUSC student, Hinson helped create the “Neuro School,” a program directed by residents to help prepare and review topics related to the ABPN Board Certification Exam. By including the residents in the development of the program, their motivation led to an increase in MUSC’s passing rate for the examination. Hinson also recently completed a two-year fellowship in movement disorders
at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago.
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Dr.
Vanessa Hinson