Gamma knife radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia: the initial experience of the Barrow Neurological Institute

Rogers, C. Leland; Shetter, Andrew G.; Fiedler, Jeffrey A.; Smith, Kris A.; Han, Patrick; Speiser, Burton L.

doi:10.1016/s0360-3016(00)00513-7

Cited by 489 publications

(320 citation statements)

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“…34 The corneal reflex was assessed in all patients. Additionally, the appearance of dysesthesias, allodynias, paresthesias, anesthesia dolorosa, masseteric weakness, neurological complications outside of the trigeminal nerve territory, systemic complications, and death were carefully noted.…”

Section: Explicit Definitions Of Outcome Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term safety and efficacy of Gamma Knife surgery in classical trigeminal neuralgia: a 497-patient historical cohort study

Régis

Tuleasca

Resseguier

et al. 2016

JNS

141

126

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OBJectiVe Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) is one of the surgical alternatives for the treatment of drug-resistant trigeminal neuralgia (TN). This study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of GKS in a large population of patients with TN with very long-term clinical follow-up. methOdS Between July 1992 and November 2010, 737 patients presenting with TN were treated using GKS. Data were collected prospectively and were further retrospectively evaluated at Timone University Hospital. The frequency and severity of pain, as well as trigeminal nerve function, were evaluated before GKS and regularly thereafter. Radiosurgery using the Gamma Knife (model B, C, 4C, or Perfexion) was performed with the help of both MR and CT targeting. A single 4-mm isocenter was positioned in the cisternal portion of the trigeminal nerve at a median distance of 7.6 mm (range 4-14 mm) anterior to the emergence of the nerve (retrogasserian target). A median maximum dose of 85 Gy (range 70-90 Gy) was prescribed. reSultS The safety and efficacy are reported for 497 patients with medically refractory classical TN who were never previously treated by GKS and had a follow-up of at least 1 year. The median age in this series was 68.3 years (range 28.1-93.2 years). The median follow-up period was 43.8 months (range 12-174.4 months). Overall, 456 patients (91.75%) were initially pain free in a median time of 10 days (range 1-180 days). Their actuarial probabilities of remaining pain free without medication at 3, 5, 7, and 10 years were 71.8%, 64.9%, 59.7%, and 45.3%, respectively. One hundred fifty-seven patients (34.4%) who were initially pain free experienced at least 1 recurrence, with a median delay of onset of 24 months (range 0.6-150.1 months). However, the actuarial rate of maintaining pain relief without further surgery was 67.8% at 10 years. The hypesthesia actuarial rate at 5 years was 20.4% and at 7 years reached 21.1%, but remained stable until 14 years with a median delay of onset of 12 months (range 1-65 months). Very bothersome facial hypesthesia was reported in only 3 patients (0.6%). cONcluSiONS Retrogasserian GKS proved to be safe and effective in the long term and in a very large number of patients. Even if the probability of long-lasting effects may be modest compared with microvascular decompression, the rarity of complications prompts discussion of using GKS as the pragmatic surgical first- or second-intention alternative for classical TN. However, a randomized trial, or at least a case-matched control study, would be required to compare with microvascular decompression.http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2015.2.JNS142144

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Section: Explicit Definitions Of Outcome Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term safety and efficacy of Gamma Knife surgery in classical trigeminal neuralgia: a 497-patient historical cohort study

Régis

Tuleasca

Resseguier

et al. 2016

JNS

141

126

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“…1,2,[16][17][18][19] The dose range for the first treatment of TN with GKS is most commonly 70-90 Gy. This study provides information about long-term pain relief, adverse effects, changes in medication(s), and effects on quality of life and patient satisfaction using 90 Gy, which is in the upper range of commonly used doses.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term outcome of high-dose Gamma Knife surgery in treatment of trigeminal neuralgia

Young¹,

Shivazad

Kryscio

et al. 2013

JNS

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Object Despite the widespread use of Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) for trigeminal neuralgia (TN), controversy remains regarding the optimal treatment dose and target site. Among the published studies, only a few have focused on long-term outcomes (beyond 2 years) using 90 Gy, which is in the higher range of treatment doses used (70–90 Gy). Methods The authors followed up on 315 consecutive patients treated with the Leksell Gamma Knife unit using a 4-mm isocenter without blocks. The isocenter was placed on the trigeminal nerve with the 20% isodose line tangential to the pontine surface (18 Gy). At follow-up, 33 patients were deceased; 282 were mailed an extensive questionnaire regarding their outcomes, but 32 could not be reached. The authors report their analysis of the remaining 250 cases. The patients' mean age at the time of survey response and the mean duration of follow-up were 70.8 ± 13.1 years and 68.9 ± 41.8 months, respectively. Results One hundred eighty-five patients (85.6%) had decreased pain intensity after GKS. Modified Marseille Scale (MMS) pain classifications after GKS at follow-up were: Class I (pain free without medication[s]) in 104 (43.7%), Class II (pain free with medication[s]) in 66 (27.7%), Class III (> 90% decrease in pain intensity) in 23 (9.7%), Class IV (50%–90% decrease in pain intensity) in 20 (8.4%), Class V (< 50% decrease in pain intensity) in 11 (4.6%), and Class VI (pain becoming worse) in 14 (5.9%). Therefore, 170 patients (71.4%) were pain free (Classes I and II) and 213 (89.5%) had at least 50% pain relief. All patients had pain that was refractory to medical management prior to GKS, but only 111 (44.4%) were being treated with medication at follow-up (p < 0.0001). Eighty patients (32.9%) developed numbness after GKS, and 74.5% of patients with numbness had complete pain relief. Quality of life and patient satisfaction on a 10-point scale were reported at mean values (± SD) of 7.8 ± 3.1 and 7.7 ± 3.4, respectively. Most of the patients (87.7%) would recommend GKS to another patient. Patients with prior surgical treatments had increased latency to pain relief and were more likely to continue medicines (p < 0.05). Moreover, presence of altered facial sensations prior to radiosurgery was associated with higher pain intensity, longer pain episodes, more frequent pain attacks, worse MMS pain classification, and more medication use after GKS (p < 0.05). Conversely, increase in numbness intensity after GKS was associated with a decrease in pain intensity and pain length (p < 0.05). Conclusions Gamma Knife surgery using a maximum dose of 90 Gy to the trigeminal nerve provides satisfactory long-term pain control, reduces the use of medication, and improves quality of life. Physicians must be aware that higher doses may be associated with an increase in bothersome sensory complications. The benefits and risks of higher dose selection must be carefully discussed with patients, since facial numbness, even if bothersome, may be an acceptable trade-off for patients with severe pain.

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“…The achieved relief or improvement was maintained at their 1-month postoperative visit. 18,44 Although initial results are usually sustained in the long term, because of the recent surgeries performed in Group 3, long-term follow-up data were not available for all patients in the study. No deaths occurred in the study.…”

Section: Value Of Health Achieved and Sustainedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Value-based neurosurgery: measuring and reducing the cost of microvascular decompression surgery

McLaughlin¹,

Upadhyaya²,

Buxey³

et al. 2014

JNS

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H ealtH care expenditures in the US continue to rise annually, faster than the national income. In 2010, health spending exceeded 17% of the nation's gross domestic product. 23,29 Numerous elements of national health reform are aimed at cost containment. Importantly, "bending the cost curve" refers most commonly to the government or insurers' payment to providers. However, reducing reimbursements does not decrease the cost of care delivery. The critical issue is how to deliver improved outcomes at the lowest cost and achieve the highest value of care. 41 Although health care providers have put significant effort into the quality and safety of care delivered in the past decade, little attention has been focused on cost measurement and even less on cost containment. This oversight stems from the fact that health systems, departments, and individual physicians misunderstand the costs related to the care they deliver.Early in 2009, the Department of Neurosurgery at our institution, aiming to improve the delivery of neurosurgical care, launched a Clinical Quality Program.2 Numerous improvement processes aimed at optimizing preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative patient care were implemented by the third quarter of 2009. Previously, we assessed whether the multidisciplinary and multifaceted efforts instituted in 2009 succeeded in improving our delivery of value-based neurosurgery. 2,32 For that initial case study, patients undergoing microvascular decompression (MVD) performed by one neurosurgeon (N.A.M.) was the proposed model given that the surgical technique was standard, anticipated operative risks were relatively predictable, and perioperative care was relatively similar between cases. We documented a favorable impact from Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CaliforniaObject. Care providers have put significant effort into optimizing patient safety and quality of care. Value, defined as meaningful outcomes achieved per dollar spent, is emerging as a promising framework to redesign health care. Scarce data exist regarding cost measurement and containment for episodes of neurosurgical care. The authors assessed how cost measurement and strategic containment could be used to optimize the value of delivered care after the implementation and maturation of quality improvement initiatives.Methods. A retrospective study of consecutive patients undergoing microvascular decompression was performed. Group 1 comprised patients treated prior to the implementation of quality improvement interventions, and Group 2 consisted of those treated after the implementation and maturation of quality improvement processes. A third group, Group 3, represented a contemporary group studied after the implementation of cost containment interventions targeting the three most expensive activities: pre-incision time in the operating room (OR) and total OR time, intraoperative neuromonitoring (IOM), and bed assignment (and overall length of stay [LOS]). The value of care was assessed for all...

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Gamma knife radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia: the initial experience of the Barrow Neurological Institute

Cited by 489 publications

References 16 publications

Long-term safety and efficacy of Gamma Knife surgery in classical trigeminal neuralgia: a 497-patient historical cohort study

Long-term safety and efficacy of Gamma Knife surgery in classical trigeminal neuralgia: a 497-patient historical cohort study

Long-term outcome of high-dose Gamma Knife surgery in treatment of trigeminal neuralgia

Value-based neurosurgery: measuring and reducing the cost of microvascular decompression surgery

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