[Intracerebral grafts in Parkinson's disease]

Although the beginnings of neural transplantation can be traced back to the last century, this technique was not fully developed until the 1970's. Following an experimental stage, considered insufficient by some authors, the first neural grafts on humans were performed in Parkinsonians in 1982. One must, in fact, distinguish between two types of operation, each with its own ethical and scientific problems. The first operation is human embryonic neural transplants the effects of which are related to a real reinnervation of the striatum. The other operation consists of autografts of adrenal medulla, which still have hypothetical modes of action. The first results obtained in man with both types of operation are rather disappointing. Even though neuronal grafting is unquestionably a technique of the future, much caution must be exerted since intracerebral grafting in Parkinson's disease remains at the experimental stage.