Comparative dosimetric evaluation of three-dimensional conformal and stereotactic radiotherapy for treatment of intracranial tumors

Aims: to evaluate the dosimetric profile among three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3d-crt) and stereotactic radiotherapy (srt) for the treatment of intracranial tumors. materials and methods: seventeen patients with intra cranial tumors of benign nature or low malignant potential were enrolled and planned for srt as well as 3d-crt.dosimetric comparison between these two plans was done considering the following parameters: target coverage,conformity index,and heterogeneity index. results: the dosimetric parameters of the 3d-crt plans were a little inferior compared with those for the srt plans. the difference between mean target coverage,mean conformity index and mean heterogeneity index for 3d-crt and srt plans was highly significant at p< 0.001 (t=7.74),p< 0.001 (t=5.52),and p< 0.01 (t=3.15) respectively. conclusion: srt is a very efficient treatment option for intracranial tumors,in view of better target coverage and conformality compared with 3d-crt. © 2012.