Department of Neurology -
Prof. Dr. R. Hilker

Expertise

Pathophysiology of the basal ganglia network in Parkinson syndromes
Charakterisation of the transmitter dysfunction in atpyical Parkinson syndromes
Genotype-phenotype analysis of monogenic hereditary Parkinson diseases
Early diagnostics and characterisation of the kinetics of progression of Parkinson syndromes
Implications of neuromodulating therapeutic options for the function of the basal ganglia in movement disorders

Resources and Abilities

3 tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in cooperation with the Brain
Imaging Center (BIC) and the Institute for Neuroradiology
Intraoperative MRI and neuronavigation during the implantation of electrodes
for deep brain stimulation in cooperation with the Department of Neurosurgery
Positronen Emissions Tomographie (PET) and Single Photon Emission
Tomographie (SPECT) in cooperation with the Department of Nuclear Medicine
Transcranial parenchym sonography in cooperation with the
Neuronsonology laboratory
Kinesiologic laboratory with ultrasound-based cinematography, posturography, dynamometrics, gait analysis and surface EMG
Electrophysiological diagnostics (polysomnography) and intervention (rTMS) in cooperation with the workgroups for Somnology (PD Dr. Krakow)
and Motor cortex (Prof. Dr. Ziemann)
Neurogenetic assessment in cooperation with the section for Molecular
Neurogenetics (Prof. Dr. Auburger)

Publications

Deuschl G, Schade-Brittinger C, Krack P, Volkmann J, Schäfer H, Bötzel K, Daniels C, Deutschlander A, Dillmann U, Eisner W, Gruber D, Hamel W, Herzog J, Hilker R, Klebe S, Kloß M, Koy J, Krause M, Kupsch A, Lorenz D, Lorenzl S, Mehdorn HM, Moringlane JR, Oertel W, Pinsker MO, Reichmann H, Reuss A, Schneider GH, Schnitzler A, Steude U, Sturm V, Timmermann L, Tronnier V, Trottenberg T, Wojtecki L, Wolf E, Poewe W, Voges J, The German Parkinson Study Group, Neurostimulation Section. Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease – a 6-month randomized, controlled trial. N Engl J Med 2006; 355: 896-908

Schweitzer K, Hilker R, Walter U, Burghaus L, Berg D. Substantia nigra hyperechogenicity as a marker of predisposition and slower progression in Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 2006; 212:94-98

Tuin I, Voss U, Kang JS, Kessler K, Rub U, Nolte D, Lochmueller H, Tinschert S, Claus D, Krakow K, Pflug B, Steinmetz H, Auburger G. Stages of sleep pathology in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2). Neurology 2006; 67: 1966-1972

Hilker R , Portman AT, Voges J, Staal MJ, Burghaus L, van Laar T, Koulousakis A,
Maguire RP, Pruim J, de Jong BM, Herholz K, Sturm V, Heiss WD,
Leenders KL. Disease progression continues in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease and effective subthalamic nucleus stimulation. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2005; 76: 1217-1221

Hilker R, Schweitzer K, Coburger S, Ghaemi M, Weisenbach S, Jacobs AH, Rudolf J, Herholz K, Heiss W.D. Progression of Parkinson’s disease is non-linear as determined by serial PET imaging of striatal [18]Fluorodopa activity. Arch Neurol 2005; 62: 378-382

Hilker R, Thomas AV, Klein JC, Weisenbach S, Kalbe E, Burghaus L, Jacobs AH, Herholz K, Heiss WD. Dementia in Parkinson’s disease: functional imaging of cholinergic and dopaminergic pathways. Neurology 2005; 65: 1716-1722

Hilker R , Voges J, Weisenbach S, Kalbe E, Burghaus L, Ghaemi M, Lehrke R, Koulousakis A, Herholz K, Sturm V, Heiss WD. Subthalamic nucleus stimulation restores glucose metabolism in associative and limbic cortices and in cerebellum: evidence from a FDG-PET study in advanced Parkinson’s disease. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2004; 24: 7-16

Hilker R, Voges J, Ghaemi M, Lehrke R, Rudolf J, Koulousakis A, Herholz K, Wienhard K, Sturm V, Heiss WD. Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus does not increase the striatal dopamine concentration in parkinsonian humans. Mov Disord 2003; 18: 41-48

Hilker R , Klein C, Hedrich K, Ozelius LJ, Vieregge P, Hehrholz K, Pramstaller PP, Heiss WD. The striatal dopaminergic deficit is dependent on the number of mutated alleles in parkin-associated parkinsonism: first evidence for enzymatic parkin function in humans. Neurosci Lett 2002; 323: 50-54

Hilker R, Schischniaschvili M, Ghaemi M, Jacobs A, Rudolf J. Health-Related Quality of Life is improved by Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A in long-term treated patients with focal dystonia. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2001, 71: 193-199

Hilker R, Klein C, Ghaemi M, Kis B, Strotmann T, Ozelius LJ, Lenz O, Vieregge P, Herholz K, Heiss WD, Pramstaller PP. Positron emission tomographic analysis of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system in autosomal recessive parkinsonism associated with mutations in the parkin gene. Ann Neurol 2001; 49: 367-376

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