Surgical treatment of Brain Astrocytoma in the Best Hospitals in the World
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Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery offers the full range of accurate diagnostics and surgical treatment of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system. The department's surgeons annually perform over 5,000 surgical interventions, which indicates their high professionalism and tremendous experience. The key attention is paid to the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases, diseases of the spine and spinal cord, brain and skull base tumors, peripheral nerve lesions, cerebrospinal fluid circulation disorders, as well as pain therapy (functional neurosurgery). The treatment of neurosurgical diseases in children and adolescents is carried out by a specially trained team of experts.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery offers the full range of surgical treatment of diseases of the brain, spine, spinal cord and nerves in adults and children. The department keeps pace with new trends in medicine, as well as contributes significantly to their development. Therefore, the most modern diagnostic and therapeutic methods are available here. An individual approach to each clinical case is crucial to ensure optimal treatment results with the preservation of all neurological functions.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery
According to the Focus magazine, the Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery ranks among the top German medical facilities specializing in the surgical treatment of brain tumors! The department offers the full range of diagnostics and surgical treatment of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system. A specially trained team of pediatric neurosurgeons provides treatment for various neurosurgical pathologies in children. During the treatment, the doctors use state-of-the-art equipment, in particular, imaging-guided neuronavigation, functional imaging (fMRI), intraoperative mapping, intraoperative videoangiography, etc.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery offers the diagnostics and treatment of the entire spectrum of neurosurgical diseases. The department specializes in the treatment of brain tumors, vascular diseases and intracerebral hemorrhages, spinal diseases, deep brain stimulation, etc. Special competence lies in the field of pediatric neurosurgery. The department offers the very latest highly accurate and minimally invasive treatment methods.
Department of Neurosurgery
The Department of Neurosurgery offers the full range of surgical treatment of diseases of the nervous system and belongs to the largest medical facilities of this kind at the national level. The department has 4 state-of-art operating rooms where more than 2,700 interventions are performed annually. It has the progressive surgical equipment, for example, intraoperative monitoring, neuronavigation, tools for performing minimally invasive operations, which provide the most effective and reliable therapy. The department has earned the reputation of the Center of Competence in the field of tumor surgery of the nervous system and spine.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Epilepsy Surgery, Spinal Surgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Epilepsy Surgery, Spinal Surgery offers the full range of diagnostics and surgical treatment of diseases of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves at the highest international level of modern medicine. The department has four high-tech operating rooms, in which more than 2,400 surgical interventions are performed annually. Surgery to treat tumors of the nervous system in childhood and adulthood is of particular interest to the department's specialists. In addition, the department's medical team has unique clinical experience in the surgical treatment of epilepsy, spinal pathologies and deformities, as well as neurovascular pathologies. The department's doctors have a perfect command of advanced surgical techniques, for example, navigational surgery, intraoperative neuromonitoring, hybrid surgical techniques, which are the basis of successful clinical practice. State-of-the-art computer-assisted systems allow neurosurgeons to plan each stage of surgical intervention as accurately as possible, thereby guaranteeing its high efficiency and safety.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery offers modern diagnostics and effective treatment of the full range of diseases, injuries, inflammatory processes, tumors and malformations of the brain, spinal cord and their meninges, as well as spinal diseases. Spinal surgery is performed in collaboration with doctors from the Department of Adult and Pediatric Traumatology, Orthopedic Surgery. The department admits adults and children with malformations of the nervous system, brain and spinal cord tumors, drug-resistant epilepsy and other diseases. As one of the largest medical facilities of this kind in Germany, the department's doctors annually perform more than 2,500 surgical interventions on the brain and spinal cord, peripheral nerve endings. The department's specialists also perform over 400 spinal surgical procedures annually. To achieve high success rates of the surgical treatment, doctors use the very latest equipment, including neuronavigation systems. Thanks to this, surgeons not only successfully eliminate the pathology, but also guarantee the patient maximum safety. The department has 78 beds, including 14 beds in the Intensive Care Unit. The priority goal of the department's medical team is to provide high-quality treatment focused on the patient's needs.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery offers the diagnostics and comprehensive treatment of neurosurgical pathologies, including tumors of the central and peripheral nervous system. The department is the leading Center of Neurosurgery in Northern Germany and is responsible for the implementation of new algorithms for the treatment of patients with brain tumors. To this end, there is an active participation in the international researches and the development of new surgical methods, for example, operations in the waking state. Close interdisciplinary cooperation also contributes to the achievement of optimal treatment results.
Department of Neurosurgery and Spinal Surgery
The Department of Neurosurgery and Spinal Surgery provides top-class medical care for patients with diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems. The medical facility performs surgery of any complexity on the brain, spinal cord, spine, and peripheral nerves. The department is the largest healthcare facility of this kind in Germany and has a team of highly professional neurosurgeons with long clinical experience. The department's specialists focus on patients with brain tumors (gliomas, meningiomas, and brain metastases), neurovascular diseases (aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, and dural arteriovenous fistulas), and traumatic brain injuries. Spinal surgeons operate on patients with herniated discs, spinal canal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, spondylodiscitis, spinal fractures, and spinal tumors. The department extensively uses minimally invasive surgical techniques that allow for good therapeutic results with high safety in surgical manipulations. The medical facility has two hybrid operating rooms with state-of-the-art equipment, including the Zeego® intraoperative robotic angiography system and the intraoperative Brainsuite® MRI.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery offers the full range of diagnostics and treatment of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system. The medical institution occupies a leading position in this sector in Europe. The neurosurgeons of the department have at their disposal four high-tech operating rooms, in which more than 3,500 interventions are performed annually. Active clinical and experimental research activities, as well as close cooperation with national and international reputable research centers, promote the introduction of innovative treatment techniques that are available only in a few clinics in the world.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery offers the widest range of surgical interventions for the treatment of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system, including stereotactic surgery and endoscopy. With more than 2,400 operations every year, the department has a unique experience, which allows it to provide the high-quality medical care even in extremely complex clinical cases. The key focus of the department is pediatric neurosurgery. In addition to the high professionalism of doctors, the treatment success is facilitated by exclusively advanced medical equipment, for example, neuronavigation systems and intraoperative fluorescence navigation.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery offers the full range of modern services in this medical field. The high level of technical equipment in the department allows for the performance of all highly specialized surgical interventions to treat pathologies of the central and peripheral nervous system. The clinical practice mainly focuses on the diagnostics and surgical treatment of diseases, injuries of the brain, spine, spinal cord, intervertebral discs, nerve plexuses, functional neurosurgery and the treatment of neurosurgical pathologies in children.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery offers all modern surgical interventions for the treatment of pathologies of the nervous system. The clinical focuses include the treatment of oncological diseases of the nervous system (neuro-oncology), skull base surgery, vascular neurosurgery, spinal surgery and functional neurosurgery, including the surgical treatment of epilepsy. As a state-of-the-art medical facility, the department has the advanced systems for deep brain stimulation, multimodal neuronavigation devices, intraoperative neuronavigation using CT, ultrasound systems, fluorescence imaging devices and endoscopy equipment. Thus, the department has all the possibilities to ensure effective treatment according to the international standards.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery specializes in performing surgical procedures of any complexity on the brain, spinal cord, spine, and peripheral nervous system in patients of all ages. The department's operating rooms are equipped with the latest technology to ensure the most effective and safe treatment of neurosurgical pathologies. During surgery, the department's specialists use innovative intraoperative neuromonitoring systems, neuronavigation devices, and continuous electrophysiologic monitoring systems. The department employs skilled neurosurgeons with extensive clinical experience and in-depth expertise, who prioritize effective treatment according to each patient's individual needs. The physicians strictly follow current clinical protocols and recommendations of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC). It should be noted that the department is part of the Center for Neuro-Oncology certified by the German Cancer Society (DKG), has the status of a Center for Spine Surgery certified by the German Spine Society (DWG), and a Center for Skull Base Surgery certified by the German Society for Skull Base Surgery (GSB).
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery offers the full range of diagnostic examinations and surgical treatment of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems. The team of the department's neurosurgeons successfully performs operations for pathologies of the brain and spinal cord, spine, neurovascular pathologies, pituitary diseases, and epilepsy. The doctors specialize in surgery for malignant brain tumors. The department is part of the Gliome Competence Center Network and the German Cancer Aid. The department uses the latest minimally invasive microsurgical techniques, navigation systems, intraoperative systems, and other advanced technical resources that allow for an optimal therapy result. The department has 84 beds for its patients, 10 of which are intended for intensive care. Medical care is based on an individual approach with due consideration of the patient's specific clinical data and needs. The specialists working at the medical facility always devote enough time to personal communication with their patients and do everything possible so that they receive effective treatment and maintain a decent quality of life.
Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery
The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery offers the full range of services in these fields and specializes in the surgical treatment of diseases of the brain and spinal cord, peripheral nervous system and spine. The important areas of the department's clinical activity also include neuro-oncology, vascular neurosurgery and pediatric neurosurgery. The treatment is provided in four state-of-the-art operating rooms equipped with all the necessary facilities. The department admits about 2,700 inpatients and 4,100 outpatients annually. The team of the department's neurosurgeons is distinguished by high professionalism, and performs many operations using sparing minimally invasive surgical techniques. Navigation systems, intraoperative monitoring devices, 5-ALA fluorescence are successfully used during the surgical treatment. Each operation is carefully planned using advanced navigation devices (under the guidance of CT and MRI scanning). In general, the department's surgeons annually perform more than 4,000 neurosurgical interventions, and therefore they are justifiably proud of their unique clinical experience and treatment results.
Astrocytoma is a brain tumor that develops from astroglia cells. It can be benign (grades 1 and 2) or malignant (grades 3 and 4). Different approaches are used to treat different types of brain tumors. In any clinical situation, surgery is the first-line treatment option. Administration of additional methods, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy, depends not only on the degree of malignancy of the astrocytoma, but also on the radicality of the previous surgery.
Indications for surgical treatment
In most cases, any brain tumor, including astrocytoma, is a direct indication for surgery. Surgery remains the main method of astrocytoma treatment, since it gives the highest chance for curing the disease.
There are only a few clinical situations in which the operation is not considered:
- The brain tumor has a small size (under 3 cm). In this case, the patient may choose between the surgery and radiation therapy. Many people prefer radiation therapy, as this method is bloodless, safer, painless and does not require long-term recovery.
- The brain tumor is inoperable. For example, the neoplasm may be located in the hard-to-reach region or near the vital brain regions. Before each intervention a team of surgeons consider all the risks and possible benefits of the surgery. If risks are more significant, the surgery is not performed.
- The patient refuses to undergo the surgery. Patients with any size of brain tumor may not agree to have surgery. Therefore, the main methods of treating astrocytoma are radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
- Contraindications for surgery. Some patients are too weakened by concomitant diseases, so they cannot tolerate surgery. For them, more sparing radiation therapy is the better option.
Principles of surgical treatment of astrocytoma
To cure cancer, the brain tumor must be removed completely. In this case, the risk of recurrence is reduced significantly. For some types of astrocytomas, complete removal excludes need for the subsequent radiation therapy. This leads to lower risk of complications development, shorter hospital stay, and lower expenditures on treating astrocytoma.
Aims of surgical treatment:
- The most possible radical removal of the brain tumor (preferably complete)
- Avoiding damage to functionally important areas of the brain
- Removing the tumor through the tiniest possible surgical access in order to reduce blood loss and the risk of postoperative bleeding
It is important for a doctor not only to cure the patient, but also to ensure good quality of life after the operation and avoid aggravating the neurological deficit. Therefore, if complete removal of the neoplasm without the risk of damage to functionally important areas of the brain is impossible, the astrocytoma is excised partially, and the residual tumor is destroyed with the help of radiation therapy.
Preoperative examination
In the foreign hospitals, a thorough examination of patients is carried out before the operation. It is necessary to:
- Evaluate the size of the tumor and its precise location
- Determine the type of astrocytoma, the degree of its malignancy
- Identify functionally important areas of the brain in order to avoid their damage
The best hospitals in the world use high-precision equipment that allows determining not only configuration of the tumor, but also, with a high probability, its histological type. Doctors use MRI, magnetic resonance spectrography, and positron emission tomography. The functional MRI allows assessing functionally important areas of the brain.
The general preoperative examination is also performed. It includes complete blood count, general urine analysis, blood sugar test, assessment of liver and kidneys function, EGG, etc.
How is the operation performed?
Neurosurgical intervention is performed under the general anesthesia. The doctor cuts the skin, performs craniotomy, dissects and coagulates the dura mater. The astrocytoma is removed with the help of a surgical instrument or by coagulation. Low-density brain tumors can be destroyed by ultrasound and aspirated through a thin tube.
Abroad, neurosurgical interventions are carried out under the control of neuronavigation. They do not require fixing a rigid frame to the patient's skull with screws. Neuronavigation systems allow better control and precision during the operation. They visualize the whole volume of a patient's brain directly during surgery.
For the high grade astrocytomas, intraoperative fluorescence diagnostics is often used in the foreign hospitals. The method makes it possible to distinguish astrocytoma from healthy brain tissue better. For this, a special dye is used, which accumulates in cancer cells. Its use allows:
- Removing the tumor more radically
- Avoiding damage to a healthy brain tissue
Conducted in Germany clinical trials have demonstrated that in malignant tumors fluorescence diagnostics doubles the chance of complete astrocytoma removal and increases survival rates.
If necessary, functional mapping and electrophysiological examinations are used during surgery in the leading foreign hospitals. They allow identifying functionally important areas of the brain in order to avoid their damage.
Additional treatment after the surgery
There are several factors that determine whether a patient needs additional treatment for astrocytoma. These are the degree of tumor malignancy, the radicality of tumor removal, the state of the patient's health (whether he can tolerate the additional treatment).
Depending on the level of malignancy, the choice of therapeutic tactics includes:
- 1 or 2 grade astrocytomas do not require postoperative radiation therapy if they are removed completely
- 2 grade astrocytomas are treated with radiation therapy only if they are removed partially
- 3 or 4 grade astrocytomas always require additional treatment after surgery
For malignant astrocytomas, combined treatment is always used. The therapeutic scheme includes surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Radiotherapy is carried out when the surgical wound is healed completely. This usually takes at least 2 weeks, and more often – 4-6 weeks. In the exceptional cases, if the brain tumor is very aggressive and growing rapidly, chemotherapy with radiation therapy may be started earlier.
Why is it better to receive treatment abroad?
Patients choose where to receive treatment based on the following factors:
- The level of medicine in a particular country
- The cost of treatment
- The waiting period for receiving innovative or high-tech medical care
Abroad, it is possible to remove a brain tumor more effectively, safely, as well as to receive high-quality additional treatment for astrocytoma. In many countries, prices for medical services are low, and the operation can be performed much faster. The timing of treatment start is especially important for patients with rapidly growing and aggressive tumors.
As a rule, medical tourists contact large, well-equipped hospitals with reputable doctors and other medical staff. There are several reasons why it is better to be treated in such hospitals.
- High precision of diagnosis making. The effectiveness and safety of treatment largely depends on the correctness of the diagnosis. Even before the operation, the doctor determines the type of tumor, its shape and location, peculiarities of the blood supply and proximity to anatomically important structures.
- Low risk of complications development. Reliable methods of determining functionally important areas of the brain are used abroad. The examination is carried out both before the surgery and during the intervention. By knowing where exactly these areas are located, the doctor can avoid damaging them. As a result, the risk of neurological complications of surgery is reduced significantly.
- Complete removal of the tumor. Maximal possible removal is important for astrocytomas of any degree of malignancy. It allows curing the disease completely with a high probability, and in some cases it allows avoiding the need for radiation therapy. It is especially difficult to remove malignant astrocytomas completely, since they have no clear boundaries and grow into healthy brain tissue. Fluorescent intraoperative diagnostics is used abroad. Doctors apply it to distinguish pathological tissue from the healthy one and remove altered loci completely.
- Complementary treatment of high quality. After surgery, patients often receive radiation therapy. Abroad, it is carried out on the latest equipment. Linear accelerators and radiosurgical equipment of the latest generations direct the beams at the tumor from different sides precisely, considering its configuration. New modes of radiation therapy can destroy remnants of astrocytoma with minimal risk of complications development.
- Affordable cost of treatment. Some patients travel to Turkey or India to undergo astrocytoma treatment at a low cost. Others go to developed countries. The services of doctors in Germany and Israel are in great demand among medical tourists. With a high level of development of the healthcare system, these countries have one of the best ratios of price and quality of medical services.
Treatment abroad with Booking Health
To undergo an operation for astrocytoma abroad, in one of the best clinics in the world, you may use the Booking Health service. On the Booking Health portal you can find information about hospitals, doctors and prices. You may compare the cost of treatment in different clinics and book a medical program at the best price.
Booking Health will arrange a trip abroad for you. The services and benefits of Booking Health include:
- Сhoosing a clinic with the specialization in the astrocytoma surgery and the high rate of performing operations efficiently and safely
- Direct communication with the treating physician
- Reducing the waiting time for astrocytoma treatment start and making an appointment at a convenient date
- Reduced cost of treatment; prices are reduced due to avoiding coefficients for foreign patients
- Control of the cost of medical procedures and return of unspent funds after the completion of treatment of a brain tumor
- Preparation of a medical program without the need to repeat previously performed diagnostic procedures
- Communication with the clinic after astrocytoma treatment completion
- Purchase and sending of medical products
- Arranging additional diagnostics or treatment abroad
Booking Health specialists provide high-quality service. We will book a hotel and air tickets for you, organize a transfer from the airport to the hospital and back.
