Cutting edge

New device at Saint Agnes can take the place of risky surgery.

By Tracy Correa / The Fresno Bee

12/10/07 19:37:50

 

Valley patients suffering from brain tumors and other conditions requiring neurosurgery have access to another high-tech tool to help them recover.

Saint Agnes Medical Center soon will begin using a Gamma Knife -- a $4.5 million piece of equipment that allows doctors to target what are often considered inoperable tumors and lesions in the head and neck.

The new machine was delivered by semi-truck to Saint Agnes on Monday.

Saint Agnes is the only hospital between Sacramento and Bakersfield to have the equipment, and one of only 200 worldwide, hospital officials said. Even fewer hospitals have the newest version of Gamma Knife, the Perfexion, that will be used at Saint Agnes, they said.

The Gamma Knife, which is not a knife at all, is considered one of the most precise pieces of equipment in neurosurgery. It delivers 192 highly focused beams of radiation to a targeted area in a single dose.

The radiation works to eradicate the growth, for instance, of a tumor.

The radiation doesn't remove the diseased tissue; rather, it damages the individual abnormal cells.

It often can take the place of high-risk surgery, and treats without incisions.

Dr. Michael Dogali, a neurosurgeon and medical director of neurosciences at Saint Agnes, said the Gamma Knife can bring new hope to brain tumor patients who had limited treatment options.

For example, surgery on a pituitary tumor that presses on the optic nerve causing vision loss would be a risky operation using conventional methods, Dogali said. But Gamma Knife, "in most cases, can eradicate a tumor without damaging the optic nerve."

The machine can focus on a tumor or lesion within 1-millimeter accuracy.

Although the hospital received the machine this week, it probably won't be in use until about February.

"Once the equipment is loaded, then there's a whole series of necessary testing and quality assurance checks by the manufacturer and us," Dogali said.

"I really think this is a great thing for the people in the Valley. It saves them a major, major operation with risks," he said.

Dogali joined Saint Agnes last year to help expand its neurological and neurosurgery program, part of a larger vision to create a Neuroscience Institute at the hospital.

Saint Agnes hopes its Gamma Knife will attract patients from throughout the Valley whose doctors in outlying communities could refer them for surgery.

It has competition. Across town, Community Regional Medical Centers has been expanding its neurosurgery program. It is preparing to open a 52-bed neuroscience unit in downtown Fresno with about $3 million in new equipment.

The reporter can be reached attcorrea@fresnobee.com or(559) 441-6378.

 

TOMAS OVALLE / THE FRESNO BEE

A 25-ton, high-tech neurosurgery tool is unloaded at Saint Agnes Medical Center on Monday. Saint Agnes is the only hospital between Sacramento and Bakersfield to have the equipment, and one of only 200 worldwide, hospital officials said.

 

TOMAS OVALLE / THE FRESNO BEE

The Gamma Knife machine is unloaded Monday at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno. The neurosurgery tool probably won't be in use until about February..