About Ascension Alexian Brothers Gamma Knife Center
At the Ascension Alexian Brothers Gamma Knife Center on our hospital campus an experienced team of neuroradiologists and neurosurgeons use Gamma Knife stereotactic to treat non-cancerous brain disorders, including:
- Arteriovenous malformations (tangle of blood vessels in the brain)
- Brain tumors (non-cancerous lesions)
- Functional disorders, such as acoustic neuroma and tremors
- Movement disorders, such as Parkinson's
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Tumors at the base of the skull
- Vestibular schwannoma (tumor leading from the inner ear to the brain)
Cancer treatment: Gamma Knife may be recommended to treat some types of brain cancer as a primary or supplemental treatment option in combination with surgery, chemotherapy and other forms of radiation therapy.
Targeted tumor therapy: Gamma Knife is a precise way to deliver radiation to a tumor, tangle of blood vessels or inflamed nerves in the brain or skull, and avoid the surrounding healthy tissue. Gamma Knife is a minimally invasive, nonsurgical, outpatient procedure. Most patients need just a single treatment and recover at home and then can typically resume their daily activities in two to three days.
Find a doctor specializing in the Gamma Knife procedure
Ask our neurological specialists if the Gamma Knife procedure is right for you.
Find a Gamma Knife radiosurgery specialist in Chicago
To schedule an appointment at Ascension Alexian Brothers Neurology, call 847-956-5428.
Neurosurgical evaluation for Gamma Knife
Your experienced team includes a radiation oncologist, neurologist or neurosurgeon. During your evaluation for the Gamma Knife procedure, our team analyzes tests and imaging studies of your condition to determine the size and type of tumor and if Gamma Knife is recommended.
If Gamma Knife is being used for a cancerous tumor, our team works with your oncologist and other specialists to determine the right treatment option for you.
Gamma Knife procedure is covered by most major health insurance plans, including Medicare.
Benefits of Gamma Knife radiosurgery
Multidisciplinary neurological specialists at Ascension Alexian Brothers Gamma Knife Center, have the expertise to deliver advanced care for brain disorders. Our team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, radiation oncologists and physicists work together to create a customized stereotactic radiosurgery treatment plan for your condition. Benefits of radiosurgery include:
- Delivery of a highly precise form of radiosurgery with an accuracy of better than 0.5mm and radiation shielding is 100 times better than alternative technologies.
- Minimally invasive, outpatient treatment; typically only one procedure is needed.
- Fewer risks than open surgery with NO general anesthesia required, only local anesthesia
- Return to daily activities, typically in 24-72 hours; rehabilitation (physical) therapy is rarely needed as part of your follow-up care.
- Covered or reimbursed by most major health insurance companies, including Medicare
- For cancer care, Gamma Knife can be used as a primary or supplemental treatment option in combination with surgery, chemotherapy, or other forms of radiation therapy, and typically does not interrupt a current chemotherapy schedule.
- An established radiosurgical procedure in the U.S. since 1988 with FDA approval. More than 700,000 patients have been treated with Gamma Knife worldwide.
Frequently asked questions about Gamma Knife surgery
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How serious is Gamma Knife surgery?The most significant side effects from gamma radiosurgery is radiation swelling. This can usually be treated either with observation, or with a short-term course of steroids.
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What is the survival rate for Gamma Knife surgery?The success rate for Gamma Knife all depends on the type of pathology we are treating. We treat metastatic brain, cancers, medically, intractable, facial pain, benign tumors, and vascular abnormalities. Each of these different pathologies has a different success rate, and a different prognosis. Unfortunately, we cannot generalize with these different pathologies.
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What are the advantages of Gamma Knife surgery?Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure. There is no incision involved, but the radiation acts like a knife to treat abnormalities in the brain.
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Who is not a candidate for Gamma Knife surgery?Patients are deemed candidates for gamma radiosurgery based on their symptoms, their neurological examination, the number of lesions, and the size of the lesions we need to treat. Based on the results of their evaluation, they may be a candidate for Gamma Knife or presented with other treatment options.
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Can tumors grow after Gamma Knife?Most tumors respond to Gamma Knife by stopping their growth. Some expand briefly after Gamma Knife, but then begin to shrink. Others completely disappear. A small number of tumors fail and continue to grow. Those patients are either candidates for further Gamma Knife, or other treatment modalities.
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What are the long-term side effects of Gamma Knife surgery?There are very few if any long-term side effects to Gamma Knife. The risk of radiation swelling is usually 6 to 18 months.
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How long does a Gamma Knife procedure take?The duration of treatment in the Gamma Knife machine varies between a few minutes and up to a few hours, depending on what pathology we are treating. Most patients arrive at the Gamma Knife Center at 5:30 a.m. and are usually home by 10 a.m. to noon.
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Can Gamma Knife radiosurgery be used for other body areas?No. Gamma Knife radiosurgery was invented by a neurosurgeon for noninvasive brain surgery for conditions in the brain and head (skull). The physical design of the unit prevents it from being used to treat other areas of the body.
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Will the rest of my head be radiated?The gamma ray beams converge to produce a single beam of radiation which targets the tumor or the specific source for a functional or movement disorder in the brain. Gamma Knife radiosurgery has an accuracy of better than 0.5mm and radiation shielding is 100 times better than alternative technologies.
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What are the advantages of Gamma Knife radiosurgery versus open brain surgery?When it is possible to perform Gamma Knife radiosurgery as an alternative to traditional "open skull" neurosurgery, the risks are generally lower, and there is no hospitalization. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is an outpatient nonsurgical procedure. Other types of brain surgery are typically performed by a neurosurgeon as an inpatient surgery with hospital recovery.
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Is Gamma Knife radiosurgery cost effective?Based on the same condition, costs associated with a single Gamma Knife procedure are usually considerably less compared to hospital-based neurosurgical “open-skull” treatment. . Recovery after a Gamma Knife procedure is at home, not in the hospital and your return to work and daily activities can typically resume in 2-3 days.
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What information is used to determine if Gamma Knife radiosurgery is appropriate?
- Medical and surgical history
- Clinical evaluation
- Imaging studies, such as MRI, CT and/or PET scans
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Will I be awake during the procedure?Yes, patients remain conscious throughout the entire procedure and may communicate with the team through a two-way microphone. The team monitors the patient during treatment by video and sound. Patients can listen to music, and some even fall asleep during treatment.
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Will my head be shaved?No, Gamma Knife radiosurgery does not require a patient's head to be shaved. In rare cases the treatment may cause some temporary hair loss.
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What can I expect after the treatment?When the treatment is finished, the head frame will be removed. Sometimes there is a little bleeding from where the pins were attached to the head. In this case, gauze and pressure will be applied to stop the bleeding and keep the area clean. A temporary head dressing is placed to keep the pin sites clean. It is recommended that the patient take it easy over the next 12 to 24 hours. Daily activities can then be resumed within a few days.
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What if I am older or have other medical conditions?Gamma Knife Perfexion radiosurgery may be recommended for patients whose neurological disorders require complex neurosurgical techniques such as open brain surgery. If you are at high risk for surgery due to advanced age, health complications, and problems with general anesthesia, Gamma Knife may be a treatment option. Gamma Knife Perfexion technology is able to target tumors and functional disorders in the brain. For patients being treated with brain cancer, this type of radiosurgery can be performed in combination with other cancer treatments.
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How quickly will the treatment work?The effectiveness of a Gamma Knife Perfexion radiosurgery procedure is monitored at regular intervals by your team by MRI scans. The radiation alters the DNA of the tumor or brain lesion that was treated and the cells no longer reproduce. Some abnormalities dissolve gradually, eventually disappearing. Others simply exhibit no further growth. The goal of radiosurgery is tumor control, which is defined as stable tumor size or tumor shrinkage. For vascular malformations, control is generally considered total obliteration.
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How does treatment with the Gamma Knife Perfexion differ from other forms of radiation therapy?Treatment with the Gamma Knife Perfexion differs from other forms of radiation therapy. The Gamma Knife is a form of stereotactic radiosurgery which only directs radiation beams to a targeted area and spares adjacent, normal brain tissue. Other types of radiation therapy do not provide such a precise delivery at as high a dose at Gamma Knife. Other types of radiation therapy often require a series of treatments over a period of time. Gamma Knife treatment can often be repeated if necessary where other forms may not. Gamma Knife treatment also does not typically interrupt or impede ongoing chemotherapy for a primary cancer, and may not require patients to adjust other medications they are taking.
History of the Gamma Knife
Gamma Knife radiosurgery is supported by 60 years of research, development, and clinical use. Lars Leksell, a Swedish neurosurgeon, coined the term "radiosurgery" and started to develop the technique that would become Gamma Knife radiosurgery in the early 1950s.
The stereotactic gamma unit, later to be known as the Gamma Knife, became operational at the Sophiahemmet Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1968. It was designed to treat functional disorders such as the tremor of Parkinson's disease. Realizing its potential to treat other intracranial lesions such as tumors and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), a second Gamma Knife unit was built in 1974 and installed at the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden) and became an integral part of the neurosurgical service there. The first Gamma Knife unit in the United States was installed at the University of Pittsburgh in 1987.
Even though it's called Gamma Knife radiosurgery, the procedure doesn't use incisions. It also isn't a knife. Gamma Knife uses very precise beams of gamma rays to treat an area of disease, such as a tumor. In 1988, the device was FDA approved for use in the U.S. Ascension Alexian Brothers Gamma Knife Center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, is one of the sites delivering advanced treatment options for brain tumors and disorders.
What to expect at my appointment
At your appointment, a head frame is placed on your head under local anesthesia, which provides mild sedation. The head frame is needed to develop a precise treatment plan and keeps the head in a fixed position to maximize accuracy during treatment.
Next, you will have diagnostic brain imaging (MRI, CT or angiogram). Information from the imaging study is transferred into the state-of-the-art Gamma Knife planning system. The team then develops a plan customized to treat your condition.
After this step, the patient is positioned in the Gamma Knife. Focused radiation targets the lesion, but not healthy brain tissue. The length of the treatment will vary depending on the condition being treated.
When the treatment is over, the patient is taken out of the machine and the head frame is removed. Typically you are observed for a period of time and then released. Some patients may be required to stay overnight in the hospital. Most individuals can return to normal pre-treatment activities within two or three days.