[First experience of radiosurgical treatment of arteriovenous malformations using CyberKnife]

Radiation treatment techniques are essential in complex management of selected neurooncological, neurovascular and functional brain pathology. Stereotactic radiotherapy provides sufficient damage to the target (tumor, AVM, functional structures) with minimal impact on surrounding brain tissue. Development of stereotactic methods with X-ray guidance lead to expansion of indications for irradiation of intracranial and extracranial lesions. This paper represents the first experience of treating patients with AVMs using CyberKnife system in Russia. The technique of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) and radiosurgery (SRS) is described in details, as well as indications for SRT and SRS in different regiment of fractionation, possibilities of planning systems, with additional emphasis on specific complications, radiation-induced reactions and capabilities of neurovisualization methods in evaluation of radiation-induced damage of brain tissue.