Knifeless Surgery for Kids

WASHINGTON (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Kenny Tinsley and his mom love to play the board game Life, now that his own life isn't in jeopardy. A year ago, Kenny had an excruciating headache that left him in a coma for three weeks. The cause? A tangle of blood vessels in his brain.

"They took him up for an MRI, and came back and told me he had a bleed on the brain," says Kenny's mother, Veronica. "[They said] it was quite serious, and that he might not make it through the night."

Kenny's brain malformation was so deep it was inoperable, so doctors suggested gamma knife treatment. The radiation treatment has been used on adults, but it's brand new for kids.

"It's a very easy treatment for the children. They don't really experience any pain, any fear, any discomfort," Amanda Yaun, M.D., a pediatric neurosurgeon at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, tells Ivanhoe.

While the patient lies still, 201 beams of gamma radiation connect on a target. They destroy the problem area without damaging surrounding healthy tissue.

Kenny was just the second patient to receive gamma knife treatment at Children's National Medical Center.

"It's hard to believe that one sweep of gamma knife will fix it, but if it does that really is a revolutionary way to get rid of it," Kenny says. After the gamma knife treatment, he had some brain swelling. And unlike surgery, which immediately removes a tumor, it will take months or even years for doctors to know if the gamma knife worked on him. But it has a 90 percent success rate.

Adults aren't sedated during the procedure, but children are. Side effects can include nausea and tiredness and doctors say if the first attempt at gamma knife isn't fully successful, another procedure dramatically increases a child's odds.

Kenny says, "I feel blessed. I feel lucky. I'm going to live my life to the fullest." His doctors are optimistic, and now Kenny's back to playing Life instead of fighting for it.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Children's National Medical Center
111 Michigan Ave., N.W
Washington, D.C. 20010
Referral and Information Service
(888) 884-BEAR (2327)