To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Doctors Use Gamma Knife to Save Sight in Patients With Uveal Melanoma: Presented at ARVO URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/25A63A.htm Doctor's Guide May 3, 2006
By Ed Susman FT. LAUDERDALE, F.L. -- May 3, 2006 -- Eye surgeons faced with removing malignant tumors from the body of the eye have found that treatment with stereotactic radiosurgery not only kills the tumors but allows for preservation of the patient's sight as well. At the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting, Guilio Modorati, MD, staff physician, San Raffaelle Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy, said stereotactic radiosurgery has been able to save the eyes of 55 out of 60 patients with uveal melanoma between 1994 and 2004. "We were able to save the sight in 90% of the eyes we treated with this procedure," Dr. Modorati said at his poster presentation on May 1st. Aside from stereotactic surgery, he said patients could have been treated with enucleation, thermal ablation, or other procedures. "More and more people are now looking at the gamma knife, to focus radiation energy on the tumor to eradicate it," Dr. Modorati said. "We are reporting a 5-year survival of better than 80% of these patients. We were able to save the eyes of these individuals in 91.6% of the cases." Five eyes were removed due to infiltrating growth of the tumor. Ten patients died during the decade-long study period, including 6 who succumbed to cancer metastases. "The use of the gamma knife is expanding into this area of eye surgery," commented Pierre Josselin, MD, resident in ophthalmology, University Hospital, Brest, France. He noted that at the ARVO meeting there was also a presentation of early work by Christopher Ketcherside, MD, resident, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, that demonstrated the impressive ability of the gamma knife procedure to eliminate the cancer and preserve the eye. The gamma knife is an instrument that allows a surgeon to perform surgery without a scalpel, minimizing damage to healthy tissue and preserving as much function as possible. The radiosurgery focuses 201 beams of Cobalt-60 radiation to precisely the area of the malignancy. In treating the eye, threads of 2 sutures tie the muscles of the eye to fix them during surgery. The threads are fixed to the stereotactic frame of the radiation device to immobilize the globe of the eye and allow for precise administration of the radiation. The gamma knife was originally developed to allow surgeons to perform delicate brain operations without having to open the skull, saving patients from long-term recovery complications as well as allowing patients to spend fewer days in hospital. "This procedure for tumors in the eye appears to be a better alternative than other methods of treating these diseases," said John Stokes, MD, fellow in ophthalmology, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, who was not involved in the study. [Presentation title: Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for Uveal Melanoma. Abstract 2264. Outcomes of Uveal Melanoma Treated With Gamma Knife Radiosurgery. Abstract 2265] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.