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Concept
Stereotactic surgery
Summary
Stereotactic surgery is a minimally invasive form of surgical intervention that makes use of a three-dimensional coordinate system to locate small targets inside the body and to perform on them some action such as ablation, biopsy, lesion, injection, stimulation, implantation, radiosurgery (SRS), etc.
In theory, any organ system inside the body can be subjected to stereotactic surgery. However, difficulties in setting up a reliable frame of reference (such as bone landmarks, which bear a constant spatial relation to soft tissues) mean that its applications have been, traditionally and until recently, limited to brain surgery. Besides the brain, biopsy and surgery of the breast are done routinely to locate, sample (biopsy), and remove tissue. Plain X-ray images (radiographic mammography), computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging can be used to the procedure.
Another accepted form of "stereotactic" is "stereotaxic". The word roots are stereo-, a prefix derived from the Greek word στερεός (stereos, "solid"), and -taxis (a suffix of Neo-Latin and ISV, derived from Greek taxis, "arrangement", "order", from tassein, "to arrange").
The surgery is used to treat various brain cancers, benign, and functional disorders of the brain. This is sometimes combined with whole brain radiotherapy, and a 2021 systematic review found this combination led to the greatest improvement of survival for those with single brain metastasis.
Amongst the malignant brain disorders are: brain metastasis and glioblastoma. The benign brain disorders are: meningioma, cerebral arteriovenous malformation, vestibular schwannoma, and pituitary adenoma. Functional disorders are: trigeminal neuralgia, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy.
Stereotactic surgery works on the basis of three main components:
A stereotactic planning system, including atlas, multimodality image matching tools, coordinates calculator, etc.
A stereotactic device or apparatus
A stereotactic localization and placement procedure
Modern stereotactic planning systems are computer based.
Official source
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Ontological neighbourhood
Related publications (43)
Related people (8)
Related concepts (16)
Meningioma
Meningioma, also known as meningeal tumor, is typically a slow-growing tumor that forms from the meninges, the membranous layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms depend on the location and occur as a result of the tumor pressing on nearby tissue. Many cases never produce symptoms. Occasionally seizures, dementia, trouble talking, vision problems, one sided weakness, or loss of bladder control may occur. Risk factors include exposure to ionizing radiation such as during radiation therapy, a family history of the condition, and neurofibromatosis type 2.
Radiosurgery
Radiosurgery is surgery using radiation, that is, the destruction of precisely selected areas of tissue using ionizing radiation rather than excision with a blade. Like other forms of radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy), it is usually used to treat cancer. Radiosurgery was originally defined by the Swedish neurosurgeon Lars Leksell as "a single high dose fraction of radiation, stereotactically directed to an intracranial region of interest".
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a chronic degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that affects both the motor system and non-motor systems. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms become more common. Early symptoms are tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and difficulty with walking. Problems may also arise with cognition, behaviour, sleep, and sensory systems. Parkinson's disease dementia becomes common in advanced stages of the disease.