Physician Quick Search

By Name:

By Specialty:

Featured Physician

Wade Larry Thorstad, M.D.

As a radiation oncologist, Wade Thorstad, MD, combines knowledge with passion for helping patients. He is a specialist in the radiologic treatment of cancers of the head, neck and thorax.

See All Featured Physicians

Ask the Expert

Treatment for Peripheral Arterial Disease

My mother always has pain in her legs when she walks a short distance. Her doctor told her she suspects peripheral arterial disease. How do we verify this and what are her treatment options?

See All Entries

Health Update

EKG vs. Echo - Heart Health can Depend on Both

You’ve had a stress electrocardiogram (EKG) and now your doctor wants you to get a stress echocardiogram (echo). What’s the difference and why would you need both.

See All Health Updates

Accepted Insurance

International Health - Centers of Excellence: Stereotactic Surgery / Gamma Knife

Overview

The Gamma Knife is a radiosurgical technique that enables physicians to treat select, hard-to-reach brain lesions with increased accuracy and safety. Consequently, it has become an adjunct to conventional neurosurgery. The gamma knife operates by focusing 201 individual beams of gamma radiation on one focal point of abnormal brain tissue. The shape and dose of the radiation is optimized to hit only the target, without damaging surrounding healthy tissue.

Number of Procedures

The Washington University neurosurgery specialists opened The Gamma Knife Center over six years ago. In 2001, the Gamma Knife was upgraded to the Elekta model C and treated 237 patients for the year of 2003. In November of 2003 a milestone was celebrated with the treatment of the 1000th patient.

Best Candidates

Potential gamma knife candidates are patients whose brain lesions are in dangerous locations or whose age or illness makes conventional neurosurgery risky or impossible. Candidates for this surgery should generally have a Karnofsky performance status of 60 or greater. Gamma Knife patients should have a potential of surviving greater than six months. It is useful for treating either single or multiple brain metatstases with diameters of approximately 3 cm or less. Patients with diffuse CNS disease, widespread systemic disease, low performance status or with short-lived survival are typically not going to benefit from Gamma Knife surgery.

Key Physicians

Neurosurgeons

Keith M. Rich, M.D., Medical Director
Ralph G. Dacey, Jr, M.D., Neurosurgeon-in-Chief
Joshua M. Dowling, M.D.
Michael R. Chicoine, M.D.

Radiation Oncologists

Joseph R. Simpson, M.D.
David B. Mansur, M.D.
Imran Zoberi, M.D.
Robert S. Malyapa, M.D., Ph.D.

Specialized Services

Gamma knife surgery does not require the cutting or shaving of hair. The treatment is silent and totally painless and will last a few minutes to more than an hour depending on the size and shape of the target. The radiation treatments are designed to stop the growth of tumors or lesions, which means that the effect will be seen over a period of weeks, or months.

Radiosurgery is used for the treatment of the following:

Trigeminal neuralgia

Arteriovenous malformations

Brain metastasis

Gliomas

Meningiomas

Acoustic neuromas

Pituitary tumors

Some movement disorders such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease.

Team Approach

The Gamma Knife Center is developed in the multidisciplinary team principle. The collective skill of the team members and advanced technology increase the degree of accuracy for every procedure. This assures the patient of the highest level of professional expertise, plus an exceptional degree of personal care throughout the treatment process. The multidisciplinary teams consists of a neurosurgeon, radiation oncologist, a physicist and a nurse coordinator who meet regularly to review candidates for the Gamma Knife Center and to track patient care and progress.

Advantages

The benefits of radiosurgery are clear. It avoids many of the risks of craniotomy, including risks of anestheia (none is needed), infection and hemorrhage, and loss of brain function from cutting through brain tissue, as well as drawbacks like scarring. Because no incisions are made during radiosurgery, and because the method of radiation delivery is precise, the risk of surgical complications is low and patients have little discomfort. In fact, all gamma knife patients can be treated as outpatients.

International Referrals

International Health - Centers of Excellence: Aneurysms

Text Size: S M L

Featured Physician

Ask the Expert

Health Update

International Health - Centers of Excellence: Stereotactic Surgery / Gamma Knife

View Full Site