What is Gamma Knife used for?

What is Gamma Knife used for?

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a type of radiation therapy used to treat tumors, vascular malformations and other abnormalities in the brain.

Is the Gamma Knife painful?

Gamma Knife surgery is a painless computer-guided treatment that delivers highly focused radiation to tumors and lesions in the brain. Gamma Knife surgery is used to treat brain tumors, arteriovenous malformations, trigeminal neuralgia, acoustic neuroma and tremors.

What is the success rate of Gamma Knife surgery?

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is nearly 90 percent successful in killing or shrinking brain tumors or stopping their growth. And it doesn't hurt or require anesthesia. Treatment takes just one session, and patients can return to normal activities almost immediately.

Is the Gamma Knife safe?

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is safe, accurate and reliable. Since it was first introduced in 1965, more than 350,000 Gamma Knife procedures have been performed worldwide with a very high cure rate for many conditions.

What are the side effects of Gamma Knife?

Short-Term Side Effects of Gamma Knife Surgery

• Fatigue.
• Headache.
• Nausea.
• Mild swelling of the forehead and eyelids.
• Temporary numbness of the scalp.

How many times can Gamma Knife be used?

Gamma Knife can be, and often is, repeated if a doctor determines that multiple sessions are necessary. Sometimes the area to be treated is very large or deep within other structures, and it will take more than a single session to adequately treat the area.

How long can you live after Gamma Knife?

Survival. The median survival (to death or to the last office visit) for the entire cohort of 677 patients was 12 months (mean, 14.6 mos). Of the 44 patients who lived for > 4 years after radiosurgery, the median survival was 68 months (mean, 68.6 mos; range, 48–156 mos).

Are you awake during Gamma Knife surgery?

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is an outpatient procedure, which means you do not have to stay in the hospital overnight. You will be awake throughout treatment, so you will not need to spend any time recovering from anesthesia.

Can you lose hair from Gamma Knife?

Gamma Knife treatment has many benefits. It is bloodless, virtually painless, no loss of hair and rapid return to pre-treatment activities.

What are the side effects after a Gamma Knife surgery?

Possible Gamma Knife risks and/or side effects include:

• Headache.
• Scalp swelling.
• Red and/or irritated skin at the treatment site.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Numbness and/or weakness.
• Seizures.
• Temporary or permanent hair loss at the treatment site.
• Swelling of the brain.

What are the dangers of Gamma Knife?

• Tenderness where the screws or pins were placed
• Nausea and vomiting
• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Hair loss where the radiation was directed
• Damage to surrounding tissues in the brain,caused by swelling. These effects may be delayed,and may cause symptoms mimicking a stroke or a recurrence of tumor

What can be treated with Gamma Knife?

• brain tumours
• trigeminal neuralgia – pain in your face,usually on one side,when a nerve is under pressure (compressed)
• arteriovenous malformation (AVM),a tangle of blood vessels with abnormal connections between arteries and veins,which you’re usually born with
• cavernoma,a cluster of abnormal blood vessels,usually in your brain and spinal cord

What medical conditions can a gamma knife procedure treat?

• Gamma Knife surgery is a painless computer-guided treatment that delivers highly focused radiation to tumors and lesions in the brain. Gamma Knife surgery is used to treat brain tumors, arteriovenous malformations, trigeminal neuralgia, acoustic neuroma and tremors .

Who needs a gamma knife surgery?

• Gamma Knife surgery is a painless computer-guided treatment that delivers highly focused radiation to tumors and lesions in the brain. Gamma Knife surgery is used to treat brain tumors, arteriovenous malformations, trigeminal neuralgia, acoustic neuroma and tremors.