Transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect using intracardiac echocardiography: a two-center, retrospective study.

Aims: We present the experience and long-term results of intracardiac echocardiography (ICE)-guided closure of ostium secundum atrial septal defects (ASDs) in two Italian centers and investigate its systematic applicability as the gold standard in routine clinical practice.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated all consecutive patients who underwent an ASD percutaneous closure procedure from March 2008 to February 2020. All patients underwent a preprocedural transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) evaluation.

Recommendations on the practice of calibration, dosimetry, and quality assurance for gamma stereotactic radiosurgery: Report of AAPM Task Group 178.

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) formed Task Group 178 (TG-178) to perform the following tasks: review in-phantom and in-air calibration protocols for gamma stereotactic radiosurgery (GSR), suggest a dose rate calibration protocol that can be successfully utilized with all gamma stereotactic radiosurgery (GSR) devices, and update quality assurance (QA) protocols in TG-42 (AAPM Report 54, 1995) for static GSR devices. The TG-178 report recommends a GSR dose rate calibration formalism and provides tabulated data to implement it for ionization chambers commonly used in GSR dosimetry. The report also describes routine mechanical, dosimetric, and safety checks for GSR devices, and provides treatment process quality assurance recommendations.

A round-robin gamma stereotactic radiosurgery dosimetry interinstitution comparison of calibration protocols.

Purpose: Absorbed dose calibration for gamma stereotactic radiosurgery is challenging due to the unique geometric conditions, dosimetry characteristics, and nonstandard field size of these devices. Members of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group 178 on Gamma Stereotactic Radiosurgery Dosimetry and Quality Assurance have participated in a round-robin exchange of calibrated measurement instrumentation and phantoms exploring two approved and two proposed calibration protocols or formalisms on ten gamma radiosurgery units. The objectives of this study were to benchmark and compare new formalisms to existing calibration methods, while maintaining traceability to U.

Variable dose interplay effects across radiosurgical apparatus in treating multiple brain metastases.

Purpose: Normal brain tissue doses have been shown to be strongly apparatus dependent for multi-target stereotactic radiosurgery. In this study, we investigated whether inter-target dose interplay effects across contemporary radiosurgical treatment platforms are responsible for such an observation.

Methods: For the study, subsets ([Formula: see text] and 12) of a total of 12 targets were planned at six institutions.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery for sellar and parasellar meningiomas: a multicenter study.

Object: Parasellar and sellar meningiomas are challenging tumors owing in part to their proximity to important neurovascular and endocrine structures. Complete resection can be associated with significant morbidity, and incomplete resections are common. In this study, the authors evaluated the outcomes of parasellar and sellar meningiomas managed with Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) both as an adjunct to microsurgical removal or conventional radiation therapy and as a primary treatment modality.