April 24, 2017 — Elekta announced that its Leksell Vantage Stereotactic System, will be highlighted at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Meeting, April 22-26 in Los Angeles. Leksell Vantage is the company's next-generation system for target localization and coordinate referencing for precision neurosurgery. The system’s head frame is constructed of a novel epoxy composite and is designed to improve imaging quality, speed and patient comfort in neurosurgery procedures.
Vantage received CE Mark clearance in March 2017 and will be used in April in clinical practice for the first time in Europe at four centers, including:
- University Hospital La Timone (Marseilles, France);
- The Academic Medical Center (Amsterdam, the Netherlands);
- The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queens Square (London, England); and
- Karolinska University Hospital (Stockholm, Sweden).
The system is currently pending 510(k) clearance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In addition to Vantage, Elekta will highlight its Leksell Gamma Knife radiosurgery system. The system will be discussed in more than 15 scientific presentations at AANS, including:
- Abstract #1837: "Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Intractable Tremor-Dominant Parkinson Disease"; Ajay Niranjan, M.D., MBA, associate professor, neurological surgery, director UPMC Brain Mapping Center and associate director, Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. This study analyzed the outcomes of 33 patients who received Gamma Knife radiosurgery to treat medically refractory Parkinson's disease (PD) tremor. At a mean follow-up period of 23 months, 23 patients (70 percent) had complete or nearly complete tremor arrest, and nine (27.2 percent) experienced tremor arrest and improved ability to write, draw and drink fluids. Tremor resolution was maintained in 96.8 percent of individuals at last follow-up visit. Study investigators concluded that Gamma Knife is a safe and effective treatment for medically refractory PD tremor, especially in the elderly or individuals who are not suitable candidates for deep brain stimulation or thermal therapy.
- Abstract #2022: "Direct Comparison of Microsurgery and Gamma Knife Radiosurgery on Small Size Meningiomas"; Shyamal C. Bir, M.D., Ph.D., post-doctoral fellow, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, and Anil Nanda, M.D., MPH, professor and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at LSU Health Sciences Center at Shreveport. In this study, investigators performed a retrospective review of 90 consecutive patients with small intracranial meningiomas (benign tumors arising from the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord) undergoing microsurgery (n= 31) or Gamma Knife radiosurgery (n=59). Study results demonstrated that Gamma Knife radiosurgery was associated with significantly higher local control of tumor growth compared with microsurgical resection at five and 10 years (p=0.02 and p=0.003, respectively). In addition, the median recurrence free survival period was also significantly higher in the Gamma Knife group (p=0.04).
Additional data presented during the conference confirmed that Leksell Gamma Knife was the most frequently mentioned stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) system in a comprehensive clinical literature review with 11,638 citations out of 13,539 articles retrieved. Gamma Knife was also the most frequently cited SRS system in neurosurgical indications, including brain metastases (n=1037), arteriovenous malformation (n=734) and spinal metastases (n=184).
For more information: www.elekta.com
March 28, 2024 
