MDNews - Long Island

COVER FEATURE South Nassau Communities Hospital Unites Technology and Patient Care at the Long Island Gamma Knife Center SOUTH NASSAU COMMUNITIES HOSPITAL FIRST INTRODUCED GAMMA KNIFE RADIOSURGERY TO THE LONG ISLAND COMMUNITY IN 2002. NOW, 10 YEARS LATER, THE LONG ISLAND GAMMA KNIFE CENTER HAS ONCE AGAIN RESHAPED THE LANDSCAPE OF RADIOSURGICAL TREATMENT WITH A STATE-OF-THE-ART PLATFORM THAT ENHANCES PATIENT COMFORT AND EXTENDS THE REACH OF CLINICAL APPLICATION: THE GAMMA KNIFE PERFEXION. T HE LONG ISLAND Gamma Knife Center at South Nassau Communities Hospital treated its first patient with a delicate integration of high technology and indi- vidualized patient care. Since then, more than 1,000 patients with benign and malignant intracranial conditions have benefited from noninvasive radiosurgery treatment in their own community. With the upgrade to the Gamma Knife Perfexion, the Long Island Gamma Knife Center offers patients faster, more refined delivery of the same radiosurgical treatment couched within the same multidisciplinary team approach. "For many of the diseases we treat, one of the options is to perform a big operation. Gamma Knife treatment is a way of accomplishing the same results we would achieve by doing an operation, but in a much less invasive, much less risky manner," says Michael Brisman, M.D., FACS, board-certified neurosurgeon and Co-Medical Director of the Long Island Gamma Knife Center at South Nassau Communities Hospital. "We're applying super-focused radiation to the target area. It is considered the gold standard single session for brain radiosurgery." A head frame is placed by the neurosurgeon and radiation oncologist with assistance from the nursing team. Standing, left to right: Jeanette Gaughan, R.N.; Edward E. Mullen M.D., Director of Radiation Oncology and Co-Medical Director of the Long Island Gamma Knife Center; and Michael H. Brisman, M.D., Chief of Neuro-Oncology and Co-Medical Director of the Long Island Gamma Knife Center

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