Treatment Options
Delivering Comprehensive, Complex Brain Care
Patients with brain conditions receive the latest treatment options available. And the brain care team keeps up-to-date with new therapies in this rapidly changing medical field.
The team relies on the expertise of a diverse group of experts and the resources of many of the hospital's services to help care for patients. No two patients are exactly alike and treatment options vary, depending on each patient's medical condition, diagnosis and needs.
Neuro-oncology: Patients with brain cancer will be treated by oncologists who develop individual care plans for patients with a malignant brain tumor diagnosis. Plans may include traditional surgery, stereotactic surgery, radiation therapy, and a chemotherapy protocol, alone or in combination.
Mapping the Brain: Neuroradiologists "map" the brain using sophisticated imaging tools -including a new bi-plane angiography system - to precisely locate structural or vascular abnormalities before surgery. Neurosurgeons use this brain mapping to navigate during surgery, reducing damage to surrounding brain tissue.
Microsurgical Techniques: Advanced surgical microscopes help neurosurgeons perform targeted procedures with fewer complications, including serious nerve damage.
Minimally Invasive Surgery: When brain surgery is required, Holy Cross Hospital neurosurgeons strive to use minimally invasive techniques whenever possible. During these procedures, the surgeon makes several small incisions to reach the target area, or they may use an existing opening, such as the nose, to perform surgery.
MRI-Guided Laser Ablation/Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy: A procedure that destroys abnormal tissue, typically in the brain, using heat from laser beams guided by MRI.
Radiation Treatment: The Holy Cross Hospital Radiation Treatment Center offers the latest radiation therapy services, which deliver increasingly effective doses of radiation to precisely mapped areas to treat cancer, including brain cancer. External beam therapy is a method for delivering a beam of high-energy X-rays to the location of the patient's tumor. Stereotactic surgery, also called Novalis, or shaped beam surgery, is another radiation treatment option for some patients. It is delivered on an outpatient basis and uses three-dimensional imaging tools to locate structures, such as brain tumors, and deliver targeted high-dose radiation to the exact shape of the tumor, sparing healthy nearby tissue.
Intensive Care: The Neuro Critical Care Unit staff closely monitors patients with brain conditions that are life-threatening, as well as those who have neurosurgery.
Life after Treatment: The team's physical medicine and rehabilitation physician evaluates patients and develops therapy plans to restore patients' functional abilities, and help patients regain their independence.