Brain
Brain surgery is a procedure to treat problems in the brain and surrounding
structures. Our team of neurosurgeons and healthcare professionals at
Winchester Medical Center possess the skill and expertise necessary, in
addition to state of the art technology, to treat patients with a wide
variety of disorders requiring brain surgery from diagnosis through rehabilitation.
Conditions that may require brain surgery provided at Winchester Medical
Center include brain tumor, subdural hematoma (blood clot), traumatic
brain injury, brain abscess, cerebral aneurysm, intractable epilepsy,
Parkinson’s disease, intentional tremors, and hydrocephalus.
Brain Tumor
Our team provides compassionate surgical services for patients diagnosed
with primary and metastatic brain tumors, including gliomas, glioblastoma,
meningiomas, metastatic tumors and pituitary tumors. Using intraoperative
brain mapping techniques we are able to remove brain tumors in the safest
manner possible. Otherwise “inoperable” tumors in highly eloquent
areas of the brain can even be removed safely with an awake craniotomy.
Winchester Medical Center has expanded its cancer program with the addition
of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), offered in partnership with University
of Virginia Health System, providing a minimally invasive alternative
or adjunct treatment to many brain tumors. WMC’s partnership with
UVA Health System offers clinical and patient care advantages. By collaborating
with nationally recognized leaders in stereotactic radiosurgery, this
advanced non-surgical technology is available locally for patients who
in the past would have had to travel out of the area for treatment.
Radiosurgery delivers large doses of precisely-targeted radiation to small
tumors once considered untouchable, sparing critical and healthy brain
tissue. SRS works in the same way as other forms of radiation treatment,
destroying cancer cells and causing tumors to shrink.
A radiation oncologist and a neurosurgeon oversee stereotactic procedures.
Patients receive treatment in the WMC Radiation Therapy Department. Treatment
of cranial or extra-cranial tumors requires a specially-fitted face mask
or frame to immobilize and carefully position the patient’s head.
Four-dimensional CT imaging, which captures the location of a tumor as
well as its movement, helps the radiation oncologist, physicist and other
staff plan accurate treatment. A robotic couch facilitates delivery of
the targeted high-energy radiation beams from different angles.