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Gamma Knife

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

  • 27 Accesses

Definition

Gamma knife is one of the most widely used stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) devices. A concentrated dose of photon radiation is used to deliver the effect. Indications for gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery include metastatic brain tumors, malignant gliomas, benign brain tumors, acoustic neuromas, arteriovenous malformations, and trigeminal neuralgia.

Current Knowledge

In metastatic disease of the brain, this procedure is most effective in patients with one to three brain tumors, but it is also suitable for individuals with multiple lesions. Good performance status, controlled primary disease, and lower total treated tumor volume have been found to be significant predictors for survival among patients with two or more brain lesions. The data suggest that SRS can be used and whole brain radiation therapy can be avoided in selected patients without loss of survival advantage.

Approximately, 95% of benign tumors may be controlled with this procedure.

In the management of...

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References and Readings

  • Al-Quliti, K. (2015). Update on neuropathic pain treatment for trigeminal neuralgia. The pharmacological and surgical options. Neurosciences, 20(2), 107–114.

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  • Cohen-Inbar, O., Ding, D., Chen, C.-J., & Sheehan, J. P. (2016). Stereotactic radiosurgery for deep intracranial arteriovenous malformations, part 1: Brainstem arteriovenous malformations. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 24, 30–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hatiboglu, M. A., Tuzgen, S., Akdur, K., & Chang, E. L. (2016). Treatment of high numbers of brain metastases with gamma knife radiosurgery: A review. Acta Neurochirurgica, 158(4), 625–634.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, X., & DeAngelis, L. M. (2015). Treatment of brain metastases. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 33(30), 3475–3484.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Colorado, Denver Health Medical Center, 777 Bannock Street #0113, 80204, Denver, CO, USA

    Susan Ladley

Authors
  1. Susan Ladley
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Correspondence to Susan Ladley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond, Virgin Islands, USA

    Jeffrey Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation , West Orange, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Suite 200 , Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Ladley, . (2017). Gamma Knife. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_36-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_36-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

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