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Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Psychiatric and Pain Disorders

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Principles and Practice of Stereotactic Radiosurgery

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Abstract

Since its inception, stereotactic radiosurgery has been utilized to treat functional disorders of the brain. These have included psychiatric conditions such as intractable obsessive-compulsive disorder. It has also been employed to treat medically refractory pain disorders of which trigeminal neuralgia is the most commonly treated pain condition. Radiosurgery offers a minimally invasive option for treating functional disorders while avoiding the need for costly neural stimulators or lifelong medical therapy. In treating patients with functional disorders, high radiosurgical doses are employed. As such, a thorough understanding of the target anatomy is required along with a high degree of accuracy and precision in the radiosurgical delivery. Advanced neuro-imaging will shed light on the underlying changes effectuated by radiosurgery and likely lead to refinements in the radiosurgical technique for indications of psychiatric and pain disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia, 1215 Lee Street, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA

    Chun-Po Yen M.D. & Jason P. Sheehan M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Chun-Po Yen M.D.
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  2. Jason P. Sheehan M.D., Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Jason P. Sheehan M.D., Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, USA

    Lawrence S. Chin

  2. Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Univ. of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    William F. Regine

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Yen, CP., Sheehan, J.P. (2015). Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Psychiatric and Pain Disorders. In: Chin, L., Regine, W. (eds) Principles and Practice of Stereotactic Radiosurgery. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8363-2_61

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8363-2_61

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