Editing Radiosurgery (section)

=== Gamma Knife ===
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[[File:Dr. B. K. Misra performing Stereotactic Gamma Radiosurgery.jpg|thumb|A doctor performing Gamma Knife Radiosurgery]]
[[Image:Gamma Knife Graphic.jpg|thumb|[[Nuclear Regulatory Commission|NRC]] graphic of the Leksell Gamma Knife]]
A Gamma Knife (also known as the Leksell Gamma Knife) is used to treat [[brain tumors]] by administering high-intensity gamma radiation therapy in a manner that concentrates the radiation over a small volume. The device was invented in 1967 at the Karolinska Institute in [[Stockholm]], Sweden, by [[Lars Leksell]], Romanian-born neurosurgeon Ladislau Steiner, and [[radiobiologist]] Börje Larsson from [[Uppsala University]], Sweden.

A Gamma Knife typically contains 201 [[cobalt-60]] sources of approximately 30&nbsp;[[Curie (unit)|curie]]s each (1.1&nbsp;[[terabecquerel|TBq]]), placed in a hemispheric array in a heavily [[Radiation protection|shielded]] assembly. The device aims [[gamma ray|gamma radiation]] through a target point in the patient's brain.  The patient wears a specialized helmet that is surgically fixed to the skull, so that the brain tumor remains stationary at the target point of the gamma rays. An [[ablation|ablative]] dose of radiation is thereby sent through the tumor in one treatment session, while surrounding brain tissues are relatively spared.

Gamma Knife therapy, like all radiosurgery, uses doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors, delivered precisely to avoid damaging healthy brain tissue. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is able to accurately focus many beams of gamma radiation on one or more tumors. Each individual beam is of relatively low intensity, so the radiation has little effect on intervening brain tissue and is concentrated only at the tumor itself.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery has proven effective for patients with benign or malignant brain tumors up to {{cvt|4|cm|inch}} in size, [[Blood vessel|vascular]] malformations such as an [[arteriovenous malformation]] (AVM), pain, and other functional problems.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Régis J, Bartolomei F, Hayashi M, Chauvel P | title = What role for radiosurgery in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy | journal = Zentralblatt für Neurochirurgie | volume = 63 | issue = 3 | pages = 101–105 | year = 2002 | pmid = 12457334 | doi = 10.1055/s-2002-35824 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kwon Y, Whang CJ | title = Stereotactic Gamma Knife radiosurgery for the treatment of dystonia | journal = Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery | volume = 64 | issue = Suppl 1 | pages = 222–227 | year = 1995 | pmid = 8584831 | doi = 10.1159/000098782 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Donnet A, Valade D, Régis J | title = Gamma knife treatment for refractory cluster headache: prospective open trial | journal = Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry | volume = 76 | issue = 2 | pages = 218–221 | date = February 2005 | pmid = 15654036 | pmc = 1739520 | doi = 10.1136/jnnp.2004.041202 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Herman JM, Petit JH, Amin P, Kwok Y, Dutta PR, Chin LS | title = Repeat gamma knife radiosurgery for refractory or recurrent trigeminal neuralgia: treatment outcomes and quality-of-life assessment | journal = International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics | volume = 59 | issue = 1 | pages = 112–116 | date = May 2004 | pmid = 15093906 | doi = 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2003.10.041 }}</ref>  For treatment of trigeminal neuralgia the procedure may be used repeatedly on patients.

Acute complications following Gamma Knife radiosurgery are rare,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Chin LS, Lazio BE, Biggins T, Amin P | title = Acute complications following gamma knife radiosurgery are rare | journal = Surgical Neurology | volume = 53 | issue = 5 | pages = 498–502; discussion 502 | date = May 2000 | pmid = 10874151 | doi = 10.1016/S0090-3019(00)00219-6 }}</ref> and complications are related to the condition being treated.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Stafford SL, Pollock BE, Foote RL, Link MJ, Gorman DA, Schomberg PJ, Leavitt JA | title = Meningioma radiosurgery: tumor control, outcomes, and complications among 190 consecutive patients | journal = Neurosurgery | volume = 49 | issue = 5 | pages = 1029–37; discussion 1037–8 | date = November 2001 | pmid = 11846894 | doi = 10.1097/00006123-200111000-00001 | s2cid = 13646182 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cho DY, Tsao M, Lee WY, Chang CS | title = Socioeconomic costs of open surgery and gamma knife radiosurgery for benign cranial base tumors | journal = Neurosurgery | volume = 58 | issue = 5 | pages = 866–73; discussion 866–73 | date = May 2006 | pmid = 16639320 | doi = 10.1227/01.NEU.0000209892.42585.9B | s2cid = 38660074 }}</ref>