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The Gamma Knife is an effective, minimally invasive alternative to traditional brain surgery. This highly sophisticated technology precisely directs focused radiation to specific targets in the brain. Typically performed in a single outpatient treatment session without general anesthesia, this proven stereotactic radiosurgical technique helps patients avoid incisions and blood loss, scarring, and long hospital stays while minimizing surgical complications. For many conditions, Gamma Knife treatment is the most accurate form of radiation therapy available. See the FAQs for more detailed information about the Gamma Knife.
Conditions treated with the Gamma Knife include: |
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Neoplastic and vascular disorders account for the majority of radiosurgical procedures today. The Gamma Knife is highly effective in controlling tumor growth and hemorrhaging from vascular malformations and targets lesions so exactly that the risk of harming healthy tissue is minimized. In certain cases, Gamma Knife treatment may serve as an adjunct to standard neurosurgical therapy or as the preferred course of treatment when further traditional therapy is not recommended.
Gamma Knife treatment is often the preferred treatment for patients rather than conventional neurosurgery or radiation therapy, due to age, location of abnormality, or concurrent medical problems
The Gamma Knife may also be recommended for patients with the following conditions:
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Tumors or vascular malformations that are surgically inaccessible |
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Risk factors that make surgery inadvisable |
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Need for an additional dose of radiation following conventional radiation therapy |
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Recurrent tumors |
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Facial pain |
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Our multidisciplinary team (including neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, radiation physicists, neuroradiologists, oncologists, neurologists, nurses and radiation therapists) evaluates each patient to determine whether Gamma Knife treatment is the best option. The patient's medical history is reviewed, along with imaging studies and information provided by the patient's physician. If Gamma Knife treatment is not considered appropriate, the team will suggest an alternate treatment option. |
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Conditions Treated |
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Malignant tumors 44%
Achieves control rates of 80-85 percent for metastatic tumors, comparable to open surgery – with fewer risks and shorter hospital stays. |
Benign tumors 29%
Has a 90 percent control rate at ten-year follow-up. |
Vascular abnormalities 12%
Results in complete obliteration of arteriovenous malformations in 60-70 percent of patients within two to three years. |
Functional disorders 14%
For trigeminal neuralgia, most patients have initial pain relief of over 80 percent; long-term pain relief without medications occurs in 63 percent of patients at four-year follow-up. |
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