At Georgia Brain & Spine Center
A brain tumor is a cluster of abnormal cells that arise from the brain or the meninges that surround the brain. These cells divide and multiply, causing the tumor to grow and affect the healthy brain around it. This can result in progressive neurological problems such as headaches, weakness, speech difficulty, vision problems, difficulty with balance or walking ability, and seizures. Brain tumors are classified as either starting within the brain (primary tumor) or spreading from another location outside the brain (secondary or metastatic tumor). Although benign tumors do not usually spread throughout the body, they can grow to compress critical brain structures that are important for life and function. Malignant tumors are more aggressive, can grow rapidly, spread throughout the body, and infiltrate surrounding brain tissue.
Brain Tumor Treatments
Your brain tumor treatment will depend on the type of tumor and will be designed to maximize your life expectancy and minimize your neurological problems. At Georgia Brain & Spine Center, we provide a comprehensive evaluation for every patient with a brain tumor. This entails conducting a detailed neurologic exam and obtaining appropriate imaging studies, including CT scans, MRI, and at times more specialized studies that look at the function of the brain. Treatment options can include close observation with serial imaging studies for benign tumors, biopsy to determine the cellular makeup of the tumor and to determine need for further treatment, and when necessary surgical removal of the tumor. In some cases where conventional surgery is not the best option, focused radiation or stereotactic radiosurgery, such as the Cyberknife, may be used instead.
At Georgia Brain & Spine Center we offer the full spectrum of treatments for brain tumors and utilize state-of-the art technology to give you the best outcome and the fastest recovery. Our experienced neurosurgeons routinely use computer assisted neuro-navigation to plan a surgical trajectory that allows for smaller incisions, accurately localization of the tumor during surgery, minimizing disruption of important brain structures and maximizing the safe removal of the tumor. We believe that care of brain tumor patients requires close collaboration amongst different types of doctors and we work closely with Georgia’s leading oncologists and radiation oncologists to ensure that you receive coordinated and efficient care.
If you have a brain tumor, our surgeons may be able to help. Please contact us at Georgia Brain & Spine Center to make an appointment for evaluation.