The carbon dioxide laser surgical unit as an instrument for surgery of brain tumours--its advantages and disadvantages.

The author started in 1969 his studies on developing the practical models of the carbon dioxide laser surgical units and produced Medilaser-S, Model MEL-42 and MEL-444. By the end of 1982 the author had operated on 143 cases of brain tumour with the laser. Most of those cases were brain tumours which were difficult or impossible to remove by conventional means. The major points of this paper are as follows: The principle of the laser, the mechanism of the CO2 laser, the biomedical features of the CO2 laser, the advantages and disadvantages of the CO2 laser, indications and contraindications for the use of the CO2 laser, development of the CO2 laser surgical units, surgical procedures and techniques of brain tumour laser surgery, adjuvant methods of laser surgery and comparison between the CO2 laser and the Nd-YAG laser.