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K. K. Jain, MD
Long Beach, Calif

JAMA. 1984;251(18):2349.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

In response to the QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS article entitled "Cerebrovascular Arteriovenous Malformations and Laser Surgery,"¹I would like to comment on some of the statements made by the consultants.

Dr Mullan's statement in referring to lasers—"but since all are relatively superficial, they have a greater capacity to burn through rather than coagulate"—is incorrect. It is possible to occlude a vessel with the neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd: YAG) laser without burning a hole through it and even without producing intraluminal thrombosis. The mechanism is heat-induced contraction of the collagen of the blood vessel. His other statement—"The laser's main advantage is in removing fine particles of tumor from nerve structure"—is not an adequate description of the current status of lasers in neurosurgery. The CO2 laser, by virtue of avoidance of mechanical contact with tissues, is ideal for safe removal of tumors located in critical areas of the CNS. Many other . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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