Atlanta, Ga. (March 25, 2024) – Piedmont Atlanta Hospital now offers a minimally-invasive procedure known as laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) to patients with brain tumors. LITT can be an option for patients whose tumors are not able to be safely reached through traditional surgical techniques due to their location within the brain, or due to prior treatment.

Piedmont’s Chief of Neuroscience Andrew Sloan, M.D., FACS, pioneered and has continued to fine-tune use of LITT for brain tumors, radiation injury and epilepsy over more than a decade. Since joining Piedmont a year ago, Dr. Sloan has worked with his multidisciplinary team at the Piedmont Brain Tumor Center to develop a LITT program.

“LITT is an important treatment option for brain tumors that has, in some cases, dramatically extended the lives of patients who were told elsewhere that they had inoperable tumors with only months to live,” Dr. Sloan said. “We are excited to be able to offer this treatment to Piedmont patients.”

A portion of a recent gift from the Seaman Family Foundation supporting Neurosciences at Piedmont funded the necessary equipment to perform LITT at Piedmont Atlanta.

To perform LITT, the neurosurgeon robotically inserts a laser probe through a tiny incision and targets heat to destroy the abnormal tissue using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) “heat maps” to guide the treatment. LITT can be used in patients with primary brain tumors, both newly diagnosed and recurrent, as well as in patients with brain metastases or radiation injury from other cancers. It is also effective in controlling seizures.

As a minimally-invasive procedure, LITT often involves shorter recovery times, fewer days in the hospital and less pain for patients than traditional surgery. In addition, patients can start chemo and radiotherapy days after LITT, rather than waiting a month after conventional surgery. Dr. Sloan performed the first LITT cases at Piedmont Atlanta earlier this month.

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