Pittsburgh, August 14, 2020 -- August 14, 2020 marks the 33rd anniversary of L. Dade Lunsford, MD, bringing the first Leksell Gamma Knife unit in the United States to then-Presbyterian University Hospital. Since then, Dr. Lunsford and his team at the UPMC Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery have treated over 16,000 patients with this advanced, highly focused form of stereotactic radiosurgery.
Gamma Knife surgery represents one of the most advanced means available to manage brain tumors, arteriovenous malformations and pain or movement disorders. Requiring no surgical incision to expose the target, the Gamma Knife can destroy deep-seated brain tumors and blood vessel malformations once considered inoperable. It can also eliminate pain conditions and certain movement disorders, as well as precisely silence malfunctioning areas of the brain to stop seizures—or ease disabling pain problems—that have not responded to other management strategies.
Dr. Lunsford's prominence in the field of stereotactic radiosurgery has also helped establish UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh as a major international teaching center for the Gamma Knife. Over 2,500 neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and other medical professionals from around the world have come here to train. In addition, in July of 2020, the Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery produced the first virtual Gamma Knife training course.
