Radiosurgery is the precise radiation of a known intracranial target with a high dose of energy, sparing the adjacent nervous tissue. Technological advances in the construction of linear accelerators, stereotactic instruments and in computer sciences made this technique easier to perform and affordable. The main indications for radiosurgery are inoperable cerebral vascular malformations, vestibular and other cranial schwannomas, skull base meningiomas, deep seated gliomas and cerebral metastases. More recently, the development of fraccionated stereotactic radiotherapy increased the spectrum of indications to bigger lesions and to those adjacent to critical nervous structures. We present our initial experience in the treatment of 31 patients. An adequate control of the neoplastic lesions was obtained and the adequate time of observation is still needed to evaluate the results in arteriovenous malformations.
radiosurgery; radiotherapy; stereotaxis; cerebral arteriovenous malformation; glioma; schwannoma; meningioma; brain metastasis