Fractionated gamma knife radiosurgery for optic nerve tumors: a technical report

Abstract

Fractionated regimens of Gamma Knife surgery offer a very good alternative for lesions such as optic glioma and optic nevre sheath meningioma.

Diagnosis and management of optic nerve glioma

“…85 Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is the most recent treatment modality used in optic nerve gliomas and a handful of case reports have recently been published describing its use. [86][87][88][89] Although small in number, SRS was well tolerated and tumour control was achieved in all patients. No patient developed tumour progression or recurrence following treatment with SRS but the length of follow-up in these patients was significantly shorter (maximum.…”

Fractionated radiotherapy for optic nerve sheath meningiomas

“…61 Initial reports of successful treatment of ONSM using multi-session radiosurgery show some promise but have had few patients with limited follow-up. 61,62 Recently, Matchetti et al reported their series of 21 patients treated with CyberKnife in five fractions of 5 Gy each with 35% visual improvement and no late toxicities at 30-month followup. 63 While this technique may eventually become a viable alternative to fractionated conformal radiotherapy, further studies are required to assess the efficacy and safety to the optic nerve as compared to the current standard of care.…”

A Clinical Update and Radiologic Review of Pediatric Orbital and Ocular Tumors

“…Radiation therapy with fractionated gamma knife radiosurgery can be used after chemotherapy failure and retards or reverses progress in many cases. However, long term-data does not suggest that this specifically reduces mortality or vision loss [60]. Radiation treatment also exposes the patient to the potential side effects of radiation treatment, including dry eye, neovascular glaucoma, cataract, retinopathy, and optic neuropathy.…”