Radiosurgery
The Latest Technology for the Treatment of Brain and Spine Tumors

The development of radiosurgery has been a major advancement in the treatment of brain and spine tumors, vascular lesions of the brain, and other neurological disorders. The USC Neurosurgery Radiosurgical Program, under the direction of Dr. Michael L.J. Apuzzo has been a leader in radiosurgery since 1984. The innovations and contributions he and his team have made are unparalleled in the western United States. USC's acquisition of the Perfexion Gamm Knife, the latest Gamma Knife technology available, reafirms its leadership position. The Perfexion at USC is the first and only unit of its type in southern California. With over 7,000 patients treated, the USC Neurosurgery Radiosurgery Program possesses, without question, the most experienced and knowledgable professionals in the region.

What is radiosurgery?

Radiosurgery is a specialized form of treatment that allows for precise delivery of radiation to a target. The target lesion is treated with similar precision as a surgeon would in a surgery, and radiosurgery can treat lesions without significant damages to the surrounding tissues. Different radiosurgery techniques exist, and some radiosurgery techniques require placement of a frame, whereas other techniques can be performed frameless. Frame-based techniques are typically use for brain and skull-base lesions and they may offer higher accuracy. Frameless based radiosurgery are performed with better patient comfort and can be used for lesions throughout the body.

What is it for?

Radiosurgery is traditionally used for tumors or vascular lesions in the brain. Radiosurgery has been particularly effective in the treatment benign brain and skull-base tumors as well as vascular lesions in the brain. Advancement in radiosurgery technology has resulted in enormous expansion of treatment indications for this procedure. They include benign or malignant brain tumors, benign or malignant spine tumors, vascular malformations, trigeminal neuralgia, tremors, and movement disorders. Although radiosurgery was first designed for diseases in the brain, new developments in frameless systems now allow treatment of lesions from head to toe.

Benefits:

Radiosurgery is an effective treatment of various diseases. Patients can be treated without incurring incisions or surgical trauma. The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis or with less than 23-hour observation. Radiosurgery is an effective treatment for many benign and malignant tumors, and it delivers highly precise and lethal doses to the tumor cells or lesions without significantly damaging normal tissues. In addition, many cancers that were once thought as radiation resistant are now effectively treated with radiosurgery.

Our Expertise:

The Radiosurgery program at the USC Department of Neurological Surgery, led by world renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Michael L.J. Apuzzo, has been among the pioneers of radiosurgical treatments for the past several decades. Our department remains in the forefront of innovative applications of radiosurgical treatments for brain, spine, and systemic diseases. The USC radiosurgery program is a multi-disciplinary program composed of neurosurgeons, radiation oncologist, physicists, and medical oncologists. USC offers cutting-edge radiosurgery capabilities, which includes the most advanced Gamma Knife and Cyberknife units. At the USC radiosurgery program, patients can expect the most novel and sophisticated radiosurgical treatments.