Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Neurosurgical Patients: A Historical Review and Current Perspectives

Isaac Yang; Methma Udawatta; Giyarpuram N Prashant; Carlito Lagman; Orin Bloch; Randy Jensen; Jason Sheehan; Steven Kalkanis; Ronald Warnick

doi:10.1016/j.wneu.2018.10.193

Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Neurosurgical Patients: A Historical Review and Current Perspectives

World Neurosurg. 2019 Feb:122:522-531. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.10.193. Epub 2018 Nov 3.

Authors

Isaac Yang¹, Methma Udawatta², Giyarpuram N Prashant², Carlito Lagman², Orin Bloch³, Randy Jensen⁴, Jason Sheehan⁵, Steven Kalkanis⁶, Ronald Warnick⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA; Office of the Patient Experience, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA; Department of Radiation Oncology, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA; Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California, USA; Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California, USA. Electronic address: iyang@mednet.ucla.edu.
² Department of Neurosurgery, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³ Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, Clinical Neurosciences Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
⁶ Department of Neurosurgery, Hermelin Brain Tumor Center, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
⁷ Mayfield Clinic, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

PMID: 30399473
DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.10.193

Abstract

Today, stereotactic radiosurgery is an effective therapy for a variety of intracranial pathology that were treated solely with open neurosurgery in the past. The technique was developed from the combination of therapeutic radiation and stereotactic devices for the precise localization of intracranial targets. Although stereotactic radiosurgery was originally performed as a partnership between neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists, this partnership has weakened in recent years, with some procedures being performed without neurosurgeons. At the same time, neurosurgeons across the United States and Canada have found their stereotactic radiosurgery training during residency inadequate. Although neurosurgeons, residency directors, and department chairs agree that stereotactic radiosurgery education and exposure during neurosurgery training could be improved, a limited number of resources exist for this kind of education. This review describes the history of stereotactic radiosurgery, assesses the state of its use and education today, and provides recommendations for the improvement of neurosurgical education in stereotactic radiosurgery for the future.

Keywords: Education; History; Medical residency; Radiosurgery; Stereotactic radiosurgery.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Internship and Residency
Neurosurgeons / education*
Neurosurgery / education*
Neurosurgical Procedures*
Radiosurgery / education*
Surveys and Questionnaires