Diagnosis and Treatment of Mass Lesions Using the Leksell Stereotactic System

Abstract

Because of the increasing number of patients harboring small or critically located intracranial mass lesions, and because frequently such lesions are revealed relatively soon in the course of disease by noninvasive imaging methods, modern neurosurgeons have established stereotactic surgery as a prominent technique in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disease. Stereotactic surgery has become a standard tool in neurosurgery in the same way as the ultrasonic aspirator, the laser, and (in microsurgery) the operating microscope. In some centers, stereotactic technique has been used in as many as 30% of all patients with intracranial mass lesions. The choice of a particular stereotactic device has reflected the training, goals, and experience of the individual surgeon. This chapter details our experience using the Leksell stereotactic system at the University of Pittsburgh and Presbyterian-University Hospital between February 1981 and January 1986.