LASER INTERSTITIAL THERMOTHERAPY IN STEREOTACTICAL NEUROSURGERY

The authors present their first experience with laser interstitial thermotherapy, (ITT). Four patients with deep-seated non-infiltrative benign tumours (three astrocytomas, one oligodendrocytoma) underwent ITT. Previously, a stereotactic procedure had been performed to determine the exact location of the tumour, its spatial configuration and its histological diagnosis. The MRI controls confirmed the efficacy of hyperthermia on the tumour tissues. The authors discuss the possible ITT mechanisms. The indications of such laser ITT in neurosurgery should be enlarged to malignant tumours (gliomas, metastases) and to certain hypophyseal adenomas. © 1992 Baillière Tindall.