Posts Tagged ‘Gamma Knife Surgery’
Alain C.J. de Lotbinière
Westchester magazine’s “top doctors” list is compiled by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., a healthcare research and information company founded in 1991 to help guide consumers to America’s top doctors and top hospitals. Castle Connolly’s established survey and research process involves tens of thousands of outstanding physicians and the medical leadership of the best hospitals.
Both Dr. Lansen and Dr. de Lotbinière are experts in gamma knife surgery and serve as co-directors of the Gamma Knife Center at Northern Westchester Hospital Center in Mount Kisco. Gamma Knife surgery is a technique to noninvasively target brain tumors, vascular malformations and neural structures.
In addition to being an internationally recognized expert in Gamma Knife surgery, Dr. de Lotbinière specializes in functional neurosurgery, a branch of neurosurgery utilized to treat movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and Tourette’s syndrome, among other disorders. He also treats pain of spinal origin and craniofacial pain, such as trigeminal neuralgia.
The entire article can be found here: http://www.stamfordplus.com/stm/information/nws1/publish/health/Alain-C-J-De-Lotbiniere-and-Thomas-Lansen-named-Top-Doctors6636.shtml
Leksell Gamma Knife 4C Animation
Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, Elekta’s new system for stereotactic radiosurgery, has been used for the first time to treat patients at the Jiro Suzuki Memorial Gamma House, Furukawa Seiryo Hospital, in Miyagi, Japan.
The 100-bed hospital has a strong neurosurgery program, and is the first in Japan to offer treatment with Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion , an advanced radiosurgery treatment system for intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery or Gamma Knife® surgery.
“We are pleased to be able to offer our patients the benefits of treatment with Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion,” says Dr. Hidefumi Jokura, Vice President of Furukawa Seiryo and director of the hospital’s Gamma Knife Center. “The sophistication of the technology is allowing us to treat more patients in less time. And importantly, both staff and patients appreciate the greater efficiency of the design, which results in reduced hospital visitation for the patient.”
Dr. Hidefumi Jokura and his colleague, Dr. Kawagishi, reported that they treated 107 cases, 60% of them were brain metastases , during the two first months. “With Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, we now have the capability to treat 3-4 patients in just half a day – a process that normally would have taken a full working day,” says Jokura.
Leksell Gamma Knife is in daily use in over fifty centers in Japan and Furukawa Seiryo hospital currently utilizes Gamma Knife surgery to treat around 500 patients each year.
“With Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, we are further realizing our ambition of offering effective treatments for a wide range of neurological challenges; and are achieving this with a greater degree of positive outcomes and shorter patient treatment times than before,” says Hideo Watanabe, Managing Director, Elekta Japan.
Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion
First of all, Leksell Gamma Knife® is not a knife at all. No incisions are made in your head. Instead, the Gamma Knife directs up to 201 precisely focused beams of radiation at your brain tumor, lesion or other abnormality.
There are five stages:
Gamma Knife Head Frame
1. THE HEAD FRAME
One of the key components of Leksell Gamma Knife – the tool that allows your doctor to precisely pinpoint your tumor or problem – is the special stereotactic head frame.
This lightweight frame, which is attached to your head with four small screws, ensures that the radiation beams are precisely targeted. The frame also prevents your head from moving during the treatment procedure, which ensures that only the target area in your brain receives radiation.
Imaging
2. IMAGING
After your head frame is in place, a number of advanced imaging tests – such as an MRI or CT scan – will be required to precisely locate the size, shape and location of your tumor, lesion or abnormality.
If your physician is treating a blood vessel abnormality, an angiogram may also be required. As you may already know, an angiogram involves the injection of a dye into your bloodstream so that the imaging procedure clearly shows the blood vessels and arteries in the brain.
The coordinate markers on your head frame, which are part of the images taken, will help your physician develop an exact plan for your procedure.
Treatment Planning
3. TREATMENT PLANNING
Once your images have been taken, you can sleep, rest or relax while your physician develops your specialized treatment plan. First, your brain images are computerized. Then, using Gamma Knife 3-D planning software, a treatment protocol is planned.
No two treatment plans are alike; every patient’s plan is specifically designed to address his or her specific medical condition.
Because Leksell Gamma Knife includes a set of unique helmets that have 201 holes for the precise delivery of radiation to your brain, your plan will consist of one or more treatments using these helmets.
The Gamma Knife Treatment
4. THE TREATMENT
Once your treatment plan is complete, you’ll lay down on the treatment table and your head frame will be attached to the helmet for your first treatment. You’ll be awake during the procedure and able to communicate with your Leksell Gamma Knife team through a video and audio connection.
When Gamma Knife Surgery begins, the treatment table, which is much like the one you were on for your MRI or CT scan, will move into the dome section of the unit.
The team will be monitoring your procedure at all times. There may be several treatments lasting anywhere from two to forty-five minutes during your Leksell Gamma Knife session.
and finally:
5. BACK TO YOUR NORMAL ROUTINE
Once your treatment is complete, the head frame will be removed. If you had an angiogram, you might have to lie quietly for several more hours. Some patients experience a mild headache or minor swelling where the head frame was attached, but most report no problems. Your doctor will tell you whether or not he wants you to stay overnight for observation or if you can go home immediately. Either way, you should be able to return to work or your normal routine in another day or so.
The effects of your Leksell Gamma Knife treatment will occur over time. Radiation treatments are designed to stop the growth of tumors or lesions, which means they won’t disappear immediately but over a period of weeks or months. Your physician and Leksell Gamma Knife® team will stay in contact with you to assess your progress, which will include follow-up MRI or CT images in the near future and periodic check-ups.
For more reading:
Patient Stories: Gammaknife.org • Information on Brain Mets: Livingwithbrainmets.org
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