Therapeutic radiation and the neurosurgeon

For nearly a century, neurosurgeons have been involved in the use of therapeutic radiation. Long before there was a separate discipline of radiology or radiation therapy, pioneers such as Cushing and Frasier explored the effects of X-rays and radium on patients with brain tumors and arteriovenous malformations. This interest was never completely abandoned and was again pursued with vigor with the emergence of image-guided sterotaxy for use in intracranial brachytherapy and radiosurgery. Neurosurgeons have been and will remain at the forefront of these and other emerging techniques.