Pittsburgh, August 28, 1996 -- The Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) becomes the first institution in the world to house two 20-ton Gamma Knife surgical units which perform computer-driven bloodless brain surgery. Since the first Gamma Knife was installed in 1987, more than 2,000 Gamma Knife operations have been performed at the UPMC.

Precise and powerful, the Gamma Knife destroys brain tumors and vascular malformations in the brain which were once considered inoperable. The treatment is unique because no surgical incision is performed to expose the tumor.

"This new technology represents one of the most advanced means available to treat brain tumors and abnormal brain arteries and veins that can cause disastrous or even fatal bleeding in the brain," said L. Dade Lunsford, MD, professor of neurological surgery and co-director of the Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery.

Gamma Knife surgery is safer than many existing procedures because patients need not undergo risky open-skull procedures and adult patients do not require general anesthesia. Gamma Knife surgery causes few side effects, and patients usually leave the hospital within 24 hours.

The Gamma Knife is housed in the Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery and contains 201 sources of cobalt 60 in a heavily shielded lead-lined room. The Gamma Knife aims the 201 sharply focused sources of cobalt at targets that are several millimeters to three centimeters in diameter. Because the beams focus precisely on the target tissues, effects on surrounding brain tissue are minimized. Each patient's treatment, which lasts from 10 to 40 minutes, is custom designed using a computer and in consultation with a radiation physicist and radiation oncologist. The patient is monitored throughout the session using a video camera and television monitor.

The Gamma Knife also treats vascular malformations, acoustic neuromas, meningiomas, pituitary tumors and malignant tumors. It was developed by Lars Leksell, M.D., at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.