Gamma Knife Management of Skull Base Chordomas: Is it a Choice?

Background: Skull base chordomas are locally invasive tumors which able to extend in different directions with skull base invasion. Although they are histologically benign, they have invasive nature makes total resection virtually impossible to achieve in most cases and this lead to residual tumors after surgery. To decrease postoperative surgical resection morbidity of these tumors, gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) was performed as alternative management for these residual chordomas to evaluate its safety and efficacy.

An intermediate term benefits and complications of gamma knife surgery in management of glomus jugulare tumor.

Glomus tumors are rare skull base slow-growing, hypervascular neoplasms that frequently involve critical neurovascular structures, and delay in diagnosis is frequent. Surgical removal is rarely radical and is usually associated with morbidity or mortality. Gamma knife surgery (GKS) has gained an increasing dependable role in the management of glomus jugulare tumors, with high rate of tumor growth control, preserving or improving clinical status and with limited complications.

Stereotactic Gamma Knife surgery safety and efficacy in the management of symptomatic benign confined cavernous sinus meningioma.

Background: Considering the proximity to cranial nerves from II to VI and the internal carotid artery microsurgery for cavernous sinus meningioma (CSM) has its limits of complete resection, with high potential tumor recurrences, cranial nerve and vascular morbidity. Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) is an advanced modality as primary treatment for patients harboring symptomatic benign confined CSM as well as adjuvant therapy to postoperative residual tumor giving a high rate of tumor control, stabilizing or even improving clinical condition with low morbidity.

Materials And Methods: The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of GKS used in the management of 62 patients with symptomatic benign confined CSM < 3 cm in maximum diameters treated at the International Medical Centre (IMC), Cairo, Egypt, from 2005 to end of 2012, with mean follow-up period of 36 months (range, 24-96 months) by reviewing their clinical and radiological data.

The safety and efficacy of gamma knife surgery in management of glomus jugulare tumor.

Background: Glomus jugulare is a slowly growing, locally destructive tumor located in the skull base with difficult surgical access. The operative approach is, complicated by the fact that lesions may be both intra and extradural with engulfment of critical neurovascular structures. The tumor is frequently highly vascular, thus tumor resection entails a great deal of morbidity and not infrequent mortality.

Stereotaxic gamma knife surgery in treatment of critically located pilocytic astrocytoma: preliminary result.

Background: Low-grade gliomas are uncommon primary brain tumors, located more often in the posterior fossa, optic pathway, and brain stem and less commonly in the cerebral hemispheres.

Case Presentations: Two patients with diagnosed recurrent cystic pilocytic astrocytoma critically located within the brain (thalamic and brain stem) were treated with gamma knife surgery. Gamma knife surgery (GKS) did improve the patient's clinical condition very much which remained stable later on.