Gamma Knife Flashcards
What treatments are done
C2 upwards
Trigeminal neuralagia
Post-surgical ed
SRS pre-operative
Safety
If one part fails, a different part takes over
Source is well shielded, not much bunker shielding needed
The patient positioning system and machine are separate so that if there is an error or malfunction in one component, it shouldn’t harm the patient
Why gamma knife
Treats with high dose to small areas
Can do frames or masks for stabilisation
Limited recovery time compared to surgery
Imaging for gamma knife
MRI
T1 MPRAGE +GD, CISS protocols
1mm met scans
Iso is created by frames
How is movement detected
Monitors nose to detect movement
When patient goes above 1.5mm movement tolerance, it will hold treatment
If patient goes over threshold for long, patient gets ejected out of machine
Trigeminal neuralagia
Treatment of nerves
GK is the least invasive treatment
75-90Gy in 1# as it is not a malignancy has a lower a/b ratio
Benfits
Integrated safety- if one part of machine stops working, the other part takes over
No hospital stay required
Limitations
Staff training
New bunker
Wound healing following surgery
Meningioma
<4cc 12-15Gy
>4cc or near optics 25Gy
Most tumours are slow growing but some can grow quickly
Brain Mets
Used to avoid complication with WBRT
Improved QOL
15-22Gy in 1#
Parkinson’s disease
Disabling tremor
If they are unfit for deep brain simulation
120-130Gy in 1#
Acoustic neuromas
Slow growing, benign usually develop from the vestibular portion of the 8th nerve
Symptom - unilateral hearing decline
<5cc dose 12-13Gy in 1#
>5cc 25Gy in 5#
Arteriovenous malformations
Goal is complete obliteration
Reduce lifetime risk of haemorrhage to 1% or less
20-22Gy 1#
Larger tumours 18Gy in 1#
Pituitary lesions
Role in functioning and non-functioning pituitary tumours
Good for recurrent or residual non-functional pituitary adenomas
High tumour control for patients with Cushing disease
Functioning - 18-24Gy in 1#
Non-functioning: 12-15Gy in 1#
Components of gamma knife
Patient positioning system
Radiation unit: collimator, 60 cobalt sources with half life of 5.26 years
Collimator system: 8 sectors, 24 sources per sector, sources arranged in 5 rings, 4/8/16mm/blocked