International Physician Update

A Knife That Does More Than Cut

Neurosurgeon Daniele Rigamonti directs the Gamma Knife Center at Hopkins.

 A powerful and exquisitely precise machine was added to Hopkins’ surgical armamentarium in the spring of 2003.

The new $4.5 million gamma knife, which in truth isn’t a knife at all, actually makes some types of conventional brain surgery obsolete. This amazing tool uses beams of gamma radiation to treat tumors deep within the brain and thereby avoids the risks of conventional
surgery.

The least invasive form of neurosurgery, gamma-knife treatment is ideal for tumors that are difficult to reach or that lie next to such critical  structures as the brain stem or optic nerve. Each single beam harmlessly passes through the skull and surrounding tissue. Then, at the precise site where the beams converge, they release potent doses of radiation. The deadly cells stop multiplying and eventually die.

“It’s the most effective therapy for certain patients with brain metastases,” says neurosurgeon Daniele Rigamonti. “It can treat multiple metastases at one session and precisely hit targets smaller than a pea.”

The gamma knife also is an ideal treatment for other neurosurgical conditions, such as trigeminal neuralgia, acoustic neuroma, arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and pituitary disease.