OBJECTIVE The aim of this systematic review is to offer an objective summary of the published literature relating to stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for tremor and consensus guideline recommendations. METHODS This systematic review was performed up to December 2016. Article selection was performed by searching the MEDLINE (PubMed) and EMBASE electronic bibliographic databases. The following key words were used: "radiosurgery" and "tremor" or "Parkinson's disease" or "multiple sclerosis" or "essential tremor" or "thalamotomy" or "pallidotomy." The search strategy was not limited by study design but only included key words in the English language, so at least the abstract had to be in English. RESULTS A total of 34 full-text articles were included in the analysis. Three studies were prospective studies, 1 was a retrospective comparative study, and the remaining 30 were retrospective studies. The one retrospective comparative study evaluating deep brain stimulation (DBS), radiofrequency thermocoagulation (RFT), and SRS reported similar tremor control rates, more permanent complications after DBS and RFT, more recurrence after RFT, and a longer latency period to clinical response with SRS. Similar tremor reduction rates in most of the reports were observed with SRS thalamotomy (mean 88%). Clinical complications were rare and usually not permanent (range 0%-100%, mean 17%, median 2%). Follow-up in general was too short to confirm long-term results. CONCLUSIONS SRS to the unilateral thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus, with a dose of 130-150 Gy, is a well-tolerated and effective treatment for reducing medically refractory tremor, and one that is recommended by the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society.
INTRODUCTION: Bevacizumab has been reported to be an effective treatment for symptomatic radiation necrosis and to decrease focal edema around areas of radiation necrosis. We report our preliminary results and ongoing clinical trial of bevacizumab treatment for radiation necrosis. METHODS: Thirteen patients with symptomatic radiation necrosis were treated with bevacizumab. Radiation necrosis was diagnosed according to the patients' clinical courses, magnetic resonance images, and fluoridelabeled boronophenylalanine-positron emission tomography (F-BPA-PET). Lesion/normal (L/N) ratios less than 2.0 and 2.5 on F-BPA-PET were defined as absolute and relative indications for bevacizumab treatment, respectively. The patients were treated with bevacizumab at a dose of 5 mg/ kg every 2 weeks, 6 cycles in total. RESULTS: Two patients were excluded from analysis because of adverse events. Eleven patients underwent 3 to 6 cycles of bevacizumab treatment. The median rate of the reduction in peri-lesional edema was 65.5% (range: 2.0% to 81.0%). The Karnofsky performance status (KPS) improved in 6 patients after bevacizumab treatment, and in 5 patients the status did not change. The L/N ratio on F-BPA-PET (P ¼ 0.0084) and the improvement of KPS after bevacizumab (P ¼ 0.0228) were significantly associated with the reduction rate of peri-lesional edema after bevacizumab treatment. CONCLUSION: Bevacizumab is a very effective treatment for radiation necrosis, irrespective of the original tumor histology. F-BPA-PET could be useful for diagnosing radiation necrosis and for making the decision as to whether or not to treat symptomatic radiation necrosis with bevacizumab. The clinical trial "Intra-venous administration of bevacizumab for the treatment of radiation necrosis in the brain" has been approved as Investigational Medical Care System by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. This trial has been ongoing since April, 2011.
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