Gamma Knife® Perfexion™

For more than 30 years, Gamma Knife® has been the gold standard in radiosurgery, offering a safe, precise option for treating cancerous and non-cancerous conditions of the brain. Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ can treat even more – and harder to reach – tumors, and Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest is the first in the area to offer this sophisticated technology.

Radiosurgery with Gamma Knife Perfexion does not actually involve a knife. It’s an exceptionally precise treatment method that delivers extremely focused radiation beams to selected targets. In addition to targeting brain tumors and lesions, Perfexion is capable of treating vascular malformations, as well as lesions in the sinuses, eye sockets and upper spine and neck.

This innovative system offers faster setup and treatment of one or more tumors in a single session, which provides patients with the following benefits:

Faster treatment

• Treatment sessions last only 20-60 minutes, and the entire procedure, including setup and pre-testing, only takes 1-4 hours, depending upon the number of targets.
• Most patients return to their daily routine in a day or so.

Safer and more precise

• Radiation shielding levels are 10 times better than alternative technologies.
• The size and shape of the radiation source – Cobalt 60 – is optimized to hit only selected targets, without damaging surrounding tissue.
• Since no incisions are made, the risk for complications is low, and side effects are rare and mild.

Is Gamma Knife right for you?
Your doctor will examine you and analyze your test results to decide if Gamma Knife Perfexion is the best course of treatment for your condition. Perfexion can treat a variety of malignant and benign conditions, including:

• Acoustic neuromas
• Pituitary adenomas
• Pinealomas
• Craniopharyngiomas
• Meningiomas
• Chordomas
• Metastases (including paraspinal)
• Glial tumors
• Laryngeal tumors and lesions in the paranasal sinuses
• Orbits and upper cervical spine arteriovenous malformations
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Intractable pain

If your doctor recommends treatment with Gamma Knife, a member of our nursing team will review the entire process with you prior to your procedure. Be sure to ask any questions you may have during that conversation.

Questions and referral

Always consult your doctor if you have questions about your condition. Your doctor also can provide you with contact information for patient organizations and websites relevant to your diagnosis. For questions about Gamma Knife or for a referral to a doctor on our treatment team, please call 610-402-CARE (2273).

Our location

The Gamma Knife at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest is located in the John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center, department of radiation oncology, on the ground floor.