[Use of the Nd-YAG laser in the treatment of tumors in the area of the craniocervical transition].

The primary symptom in patients with tumors in the region of the foramen magnum is persistent neck pain. With the use of microneurosurgical techniques and additional laser therapy, favorable operative results can be obtained. The same holds true for patients harboring difficult to approach lesions such as ventrally located tumors of the craniocervical junction or with brain stem tumors. The advantages of the Nd-Yag-laser therapy are: precise denaturation of tumor tissue with predictable depth effect; adequate delineation of tumors due to different tissue absorption properties; excellent coagulation in the presence of highly vascularized tumors; surgery markedly facilitated due to laser induced shrinkage of tumors.