Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Why it's done
By Mayo Clinic staffOperating on the brain is always a delicate proposition. If a tumor or other abnormality is buried deep within the brain, traditional neurosurgery can sometimes damage healthy brain tissue as surgeons cut their way to the tissue to be removed. Because gamma-knife radiosurgery requires no incisions, it's less likely to damage healthy brain tissue.
Gamma-knife radiosurgery is most commonly used for:
- Brain tumors. Radiosurgery is useful in the management of both benign and malignant brain tumors, especially tumors originating elsewhere in the body that have metastasized to the brain. Radiosurgery often can treat tumors that may have been termed inoperable because of their location in hard-to-access areas of the brain.
- Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). AVMs are abnormal collections of arteries and veins that connect directly, instead of through a network of capillaries. When located in the brain, these abnormalities can cause severe bleeding, headaches or seizures. While many AVMs can be removed with conventional microsurgery, radiosurgery may offer a much less invasive option with less risk of neurological injury.
- Trigeminal neuralgia. This nerve disorder causes disabling facial pain that feels like an electric shock. Radiosurgery can create a lesion on the nerve, blocking its pain signals. This procedure is typically reserved for older adults or for people with recurrent pain after other operations for trigeminal neuralgia.
- Acoustic neuromas. These noncancerous tumors, also called schwannomas, develop on the nerve that affects balance and hearing. Radiosurgery can effectively control the growth of small tumors in the majority of cases, with a low risk of deafness or loss of facial movement.
- Pituitary tumors. Tumors of the pea-sized "master gland," which is located deep within the brain, can cause a variety of problems because the pituitary helps regulate the thyroid, adrenal and reproductive glands. Radiosurgery may be employed to stop the growth of the tumor and halt the abnormal hormone secretion that can occur from these tumors.
References
- Stereotactic radiosurgery. American Association of Neurological Surgeons. http://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/what/patient_e/stereotactic.asp. Accessed July 31, 2008.
- Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Radiosurgery Using the Gamma Knife. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. 2006.
- Gamma Knife. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=gamma_knife. Accessed July 31, 2008.
- Chen CC, et al. Stereotactic cranial radiosurgery and radiotherapy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 31, 2008.
- Wen PY, et al. Treatment of brain metastases in favorable prognosis patients. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 1, 2008.
- Singer RJ, et al. Brain arteriovenous malformations. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 1, 2008.
- Zahid BH, et al. Trigeminal neuralgia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 1, 2008.
- Park JK, et al. Acoustic neuroma. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 1, 2008.
- Abram S, et al. Stereotactic radiation techniques in the treatment of acoustic schwannomas. Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America. 2007;40(3):571-588.
- PituitaryFAQs, Pituitary Network Association. http://www.pituitary.org/faq/. Accessed Aug. 1, 2008.
- Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Patients with Pituitary Adenomas. Harrisburg, Pa. International RadioSurgery Association. http://www.irsa.org/Pituitary%20Guideline.pdf. Accessed Aug. 1, 2008.
- Kavanagh G, et al. Complications of cranial stereotactic radiosurgery. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 1, 2008.
- Stereotactic Radiosurgery. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=stereotactic&bhcp=1. Accessed Aug. 1, 2008.
- Link M. (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Aug. 7, 2008.
