Because the injection of the medication must be done directly into the vessels being studied, it is considered an invasive test. All of these techniques are available at our institution. Our physicians have been directly involved in the adaptation of these techniques for use in children. Radiation generated by a standard linear accelerator is delivered in small doses given daily over a several week period of time. It only takes a few minutes to deliver each daily dose, but in younger children sedation may be required.
Sedation is a routine event for our team.
This technique is felt to minimize many of the problems of brain injury that in the past were associated with radiation therapy in young children. Dr. Jeff Michalski has been active in the development of conformal radiotherapy technques, now used by a number of institutions around the country. Radiosurgery is a one time treatment that delivers radiation to a small defined target area, with relatively little radiation given to adjacent tissues. The technique is limited to targets less than a few centimeters, and may not be applicable to all regions of the brain. In some instances, radioactive material is injected into a cyst or cavity associated with a tumor, treating the tumor from inside.