www.cromwellhospital.com/gammaknife

Bupa Cromwell Hospital Gamma Knife Centre

The first London Gamma Knife was installed in 1998 at Bupa Cromwell Hospital. It was replaced in 2007 with the Gamma Knife’s latest and most advanced version, the Gamma Knife Perfexion. It was the first of its kind in the UK and since 2007 more than 400 patients have been treated using this fully robotic system with excellent results.

Gamma Knife technology has enabled neurosurgeons to treat many brain tumours that are otherwise inaccessible for therapy. The goal of radiosurgery is to maintain quality of life and to limit the invasiveness of the treatment. The extremely high efficacy of the local treatment of brain metastases is gaining even greater importance since time is won for the systemic oncological therapy regimens.

Furthermore Gamma Knife Radiosurgery is increasingly used as an alternative to open surgery for the benign brain tumours such as acoustic neuromas, pituitary adenomas and meningiomas. Vascular malformations and functional disorders including Trigeminal Neuralgia are nowadays established indications. As of December 2007 more than 449,000 patients worldwide had undergone Gamma Knife surgery.

In July 2003 the London Specialised Commissioning group recommended the Gamma Knife centre at Bupa Cromwell Hospital to provide stereotactic radiosurgery for NHS patients. Currently 30% of patients treated at Bupa Cromwell Hospital are referred from various NHS trusts, individual GPs or specialist consultants throughout the country. The Bupa Cromwell Gamma Knife centre strictly avoids waiting lists and once funding has been approved, treatment can be offered generally within 2-3 weeks and well before the patients breaching date.

The Bupa Cromwell Hospital Gamma Knife centre has a team of world renowned neurosurgeons, clinical oncologists, neuro-radiologists with long experience in Gamma Knife Radiosurgery. Clinical support is provided by a highly trained team of physicists, radiographers and nurses all working to provide the highest standard of care for each individual patient. The centre has 2 medical co-directors; Mr Christer Lindquist and Dr Bodo Lippitz, Consultant Neurosurgeons, both of whom have many years experience from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden where the concept of radiosurgery and the Gamma Knife technology was developed.

The Technology

The principle of radiosurgery is based on concentrating radiation within a tumour without irradiating the surrounding healthy brain tissue. The Gamma Knife achieves this by mechanical focusing of ca 200 radiation sources, which allows shaping of an extremely delineated irradiated volume in the brain. The radiation dose maximum is directed against the tumour, which is irradiated with a very high dose concentration and a sharp "dose gradient" against the surrounding healthy brain tissue. Hence, the healthy tissue is exposed to very little radiation and thereby "protected" against undesired radiation effects.

The involved 3D precision of radiation focus and dose gradient is unmatched by other technologies. These physical characteristics of radiosurgery allow treatments in one single session under local anaesthesia. The necessary precision of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery requires a stereotactic MRI or CT study on the day of the treatment and a frame fixation.

The procedure is painless involving no skin incisions or shaving of the head. There are no scars to heal; little risk infection and no risk of hair loss. Unlike conventional surgery, where recovery time can exceed several weeks, patient’s undergoing Gamma Knife Radiosurgery can usually expect to resume their normal activities the following day.

For more information on the Gamma Knife Centre at Bupa Cromwell Hospital visit www.cromwellhospital.com/gammaknife,
call to speak to one of the team on 0207 460 5935 or 5938,
or email gamma.knife@cromwellhospital.com

The Gamma Knife Centre
Bupa Cromwell Hospital
London, SW5 0TU

 

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