BRAIN TUMORS
- A brain tumor is a collection, or mass, of abnormal cells in your brain.
- Your skull, which encloses your brain, is very rigid. Any growth inside such a restricted space can cause problems.
- Brain tumors can be cancerous (malignant) or noncancerous (benign).
- When benign or malignant tumors grow, they can cause the pressure inside your skull to increase.
- This can cause brain damage, and it can be life-threatening., in which cancer begins elsewhere and spreads to the brain.
The Treatment of Brain Tumors
- The treatment of a brain tumor depends on:
The type of tumor
The size of the tumor
The location of the tumor
General health of patient
- The neurosurgeon should take a 360° approach to treating lesions of brain tumors .Before deciding on a treatment option, The neurosurgeon have to look at your condition from every direction to find the path that is least disruptive to brain, critical nerves, and ability to return to normal functioning.
Brain Tumor Treatment Options
– Neuro – Surgery
– Radiosurgery
Gamma Knife®/ Cyber Knife etc..
– Radiation therapy
– Chemotherapy
Surgery for Brain Tumors
The most common treatment for malignant brain tumors is surgery. The goal is to remove as much of the cancer as possible without causing damage to the healthy parts of the brain. While the location of some tumors allows for easy and safe removal, other tumors may be located in an area that limits how much of the tumor can be removed. Even partial removal of brain cancer can be beneficial.
Brain surgery is typically used to remove the entire tumor, if possible. In the past, the surgeon would make large incisions to remove the tumor. Today, we’re often able to use more minimally invasive surgical techniques.. This helps locate regions of the brain to avoid, such as those responsible for speech or movement.
Sophisticated tools enhance the precision and safety of brain cancer surgery. These tools allow the removal of tumors that may otherwise have been inoperable, while preserving neurological function:
Pre-operative evaluation that incluedes DTI-MRI, intellegent- learning software such as osirix does assist for succesfull surgery
Intraoperative neuronavigationuses an advanced MRI system to map areas of the brain responsible for important functions. The map then allows us to precisely plan surgery to avoid damage to those important areas.
Intraoperative electrophysiology “brain mapping” (also called motor mapping and language mapping) is like GPS for the brain. Small electrodes are placed on the outer layer of the brain to stimulate the brain and areas around the tumor
- Risks of brain surgery include infection and bleeding. Clinically dangerous benign tumors are also surgically removed. Metastatic brain tumors are treated according to guidelines for the type of original cancer.
- Surgery can be combined with other treatments, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
- Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy can help you to recover after neurosurgery.
FUNCTIONAL NEUROSURGERY
- Vagal Nerve Stimulation
- Deep Brain Stimulation
- Baklofen Pump
- Etc..
PARKINSON / Deep Brain Stimulation
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), known as a brain pacemaker, is the most commonly used surgical method for the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
- Microelectrodes are placed in one of two regions of the brain (Subthalamic nucleus or Globus pallidus region) to use high-frequency electrical stimulation.
- DBS surgery is the most preferred surgery because it is safe, effective, completely reversible if desired and adaptable to the patient.
- This treatment is applied to patients who are resistant to drugs or adversely affected by the side effects of drugs.
Vagal Nerve Stimulation – Vagus Battery – Epilepsy Batttery
- It’s a surgical method used in patients who are resistant to drug treatment, that is, who continue to have epileptic seizures despite using drugs
- The operation time is very short, it is successfully performed in experienced hands and provides an average reduction of up to 70% in epileptic seizures
Baklofen Pump
- It is used in case of unresponsiveness to drugs in spasticity, which is encountered with excessive contraction of the trunk, arms and legs
- For testing purposes, medication is administered to the spinal cord area.
- After the test dose is made, the patient is examined in which direction his contractions have changed
- If a significant relaxation is observed in the patient, permanent spasticity pump surgery is decided
- Patients are usually discharged within 2 days of surgery
Spinal Diseases
Cervical
Throcic
Lumbar
Tumors of Spine
- A spinal tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue within or surrounding the spinal cord and/or spinal column
- A thorough medical examination with emphasis on back pain and neurological deficits is the first step to diagnosing a spinal tumor
- Radiological tests are required for an accurate and positive diagnosis
- Treatment decision-making is often multidisciplinary, incorporating the expertise of spinal surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and other medical specialists. The selection of treatments including both surgical and non-surgical is therefore made keeping in mind the various aspects of the patient’s overall health and goals of care.
Disc Herniations and / or Stenosis
- A herniated disk is a condition that can occur anywhere along the spine, but most often occurs in the lower back. It is sometimes called a bulging, protruding, or ruptured disk. It is one of the most common causes of lower back pain, as well as leg pain or “sciatica.”
- Between 60% and 80% of people will experience low back pain at some point their lives. Some of these people will have low back pain and leg pain caused by a herniated disk.
- Although a herniated disk can be very painful, most people feel much better with just a few weeks or months of nonsurgical treatment.
- We professionally apply all surgical options along with microsurgery
- The hernies that do not require surgery are more frequent.
- We frequently use physical therapy and algology in our patients who are not indicated for surgery.
