Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise Using a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided laser technology, neurosurgeons at UC San Diego Health System have successfully treated a malignant tumor deep inside a patients brain. This is the first time that this FDA-approved laser-based treatment has been performed in California. The patients brain tumor was located in the thalamus. Normally, to access a tumor in this region, the surgeon would have to remove considerable healthy brain tissue, thus subjecting the patient to significant neurologic injury, said neurosurgeon Clark C. Chen, MD, PhD, vice chairman of research, UC San Diego Division of Neurosurgery. This MRI-guided laser technology helps neurosurgeons preserve healthy brain tissues while allowing treatment of tumors that would otherwise be inoperable. Chen and his team used a technique called laser interstitial thermal therapy. The procedure is performed inside an MRI machine while the patient is under general anesthesia. A dime-size hole is created in the patients skull to access the tumor. A laser probe is then inserted into the tumor under real-time MRI monitoring and computer guidance. When the tumor is reached, the laser beam is activated, heating and destroying tumor cells. It is well-known that MRI can be … Continue reading →

Of this number, 718 of the injured were in Bangkok, two in Rayong, eight in Pathum Thani and 34 in Trat. Another policeman succumbed yesterday to injuries inflicted during a clash with protesters near Phan Fah Bridge last Tuesday, the Erawan Emergency Centre said. The centre said Police Lance Corporal Sarawut Chaipanha died at 12.30pm at the Police Hospital. He became the second police officer fatally injured during the finally aborted dispersal operation and the sixth to die in a clash which also saw four protesters killed. Yesterday, a six-year-old girl succumbed to severe injuries caused by the bomb attack by a Big C store near Ratchaprasong intersection. She was rushed to Ramathibodi Hospital and underwent surgery for damage to her brain and liver, but died of those injuries at 6.25am. A four-year-old boy injured by the bomb attack at the same site also underwent treatment at the intensive care unit at Ramathibodi hospital. His brain and lungs were damaged by the explosion, but medical staff said later his brain had slightly improved. A five-year-old girl, injured in a grenade and gun attack at the Yingcharoen fresh market in Khao Saming district in Trat province, has also undergone treatment at … Continue reading →