Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) in the treatment of pediatric intracranial neoplastic lesions.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective review was performed of 25 pediatric patients who underwent Gamma Knife radiosurgery at the Department of Neurosurgery, Pamukkale University Faculty of Medicine, between 2015 and 2025. Patients with a follow-up period shorter than 6 months, early mortality, or insufficient/irregular follow-up were excluded, and the final analysis was conducted on 14 patients. Demographic data, pathological diagnoses, lesion locations, prescribed doses, and follow-up durations were evaluated.

Results: The mean age of the 14 included patients was 12.4 ± 3.4 years; 64.3% were female and 35.7% were male. Prescribed radiation doses ranged from 6 to 20 Gy (mean: 13.2 ± 4.4 Gy), and the mean follow-up duration was 41.6 ± 36.1 months. Glioma-related tumors were the most common pathological lesions. Overall treatment responses showed lesion shrinkage in 6 patients (42.8%), complete disappearance in 3 patients (21.4%), stable disease in 3 patients (21.4%), and lesion progression in 2 patients (14.4%).

Conclusion: The findings suggest that Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a safe and effective option for pediatric patients with intracranial lesions that are not amenable to surgery, are deeply located, or are recurrent. With appropriate patient selection, GKRS provides favorable tumor control with low complication rates. Further large-scale, prospective studies are warranted to better define the role of GKRS in pediatric neuro-oncology.

Keywords: pediatric brain tumors, stereotactic radiosurgery, pediatric neuro-oncology

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Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Asar R, Şahinoğlu Berker D. The role of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery in pediatric brain masses: A single-center retrospective study. Sinir Sistemi Cerrahisi Derg 2026;11(1):1-11. https://doi.org/10.54306/SSCD.2026.233