摘要:

In the following account we have tried to review events more or less as they happened rather than to dissect component parts and give a separate review of the progress of each of them.Leopold Freund of Vienna, though not actually the first to use X rays therapeutically, may fairly be regarded as the father of radiotherapy. In November 1896, he irradiated a hairy mole with X rays and produced epilation. This was followed by the treatment of inflammatory conditions; and the use of X rays spread to various countries, and reports of patients treated soon appeared in Germany, Austria and America. Accounts of the response to X rays of superficial malignant conditions were published as early as 1900, and that of deep tumours in 1901.Dosage was determined by trial and error, and was complicated by the erratic behaviour of the apparatus. Accurate timing was impossible, as the platinum hammer-break of the coil kept on sticking, and the gas tubes of that day had no regulator. They began by being too soft, i.e., giving a longer wavelength, and then with working gradually became too hard. If, however, they were overheated they became so soft that they had to be put aside to recover. Their erratic behaviour persisted even when mica regulators were fitted; but they were definitely improved by the distantly-operated Bauer regulator which, by displacing mercury from a small disc of biscuit porcelain, allowed a little gas to enter the tube when required.

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-105

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Twenty-five years ago, on February 10, 1923, Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen died, aged 78. He had lived in Munich for the latter years of his life.

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-108

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

1. Achievement of the best results in the treatment of patients with cancer of the breast is dependent upon the employment, in the most suitable manner, of surgery and radiation therapy. These two modes of therapy should be thought of, not as competitory, but as complementary agents. If they are to be used well it is necessary to classify the cases into somewhat arbitrary groups; such a classification has been suggested.2. Radiation may improve the results of inadequate surgery but should not be looked upon as a substitute for adequate surgery.3. Age does not seem to be an important factor in prognosis.4. The case for routine sterilisation of women in the pre-menopausal period has not been proved.5. Pregnancy in women whose disease has been treated effectively has not much influence upon the prognosis in the series of cases surveyed.6. The clinical index of malignancy herein described, provides a very accurate formula for the summing up of the more important factors which have to be taken into consideration in planning the management of any case and is a reliable guide to prognosis.7. Radiation achieves its greatest triumphs in the control of extensive primary disease. The over-all figure of 47 per cent freedom from disease at the end of five years appears, on paper, considerably lower than is actually the case, because of the inclusion of so many cases that would formerly have been considered hopeless.8. A general plan for the management of cancer of the breast is suggested, including new and somewhat strict criteria of operability, which, if adopted, it is believed would bring about a substantial general increase in five-year survivals, a reduction in post-operative recurrences, and other very considerable benefits to the patient.

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-109

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In assessing the results of clinical treatment of a disease such as cancer, the radiotherapist is faced with a variety of difficulties. Although he may be convinced that many of the cases treated are cured, he is aware that late recurrences sometimes do arise, and that for this reason a symptom free period of even two or three years subsequent to treatment cannot be regarded as definite proof of a cure. The proportion of patients who remain symptom free for two or three years is not therefore a reliable measure of the proportion permanently cured. There is, however, the further difficulty that, owing to the high average age of patients suffering from cancer, a considerable number of deaths from intercurrent disease is to be expected if the analysis of the results is postponed for more than a few years. Long delay in making the analysis, while it leads to a conservative estimate of the proportion cured, is not only undesirable in itself, but may thus involve discarding a considerable number of patients who died without any recurrence of the disease and who were, in all probability, cured. Finally, there is the inevitable statistical uncertainty in estimating from the treatment results in a relatively small group of cases, the proportion who would be cured if a large number of cases was treated.Some of the difficulties referred to above are inherent in any clinical experiment designed to test a new technique of treatment, and cannot be eliminated by the most elaborate statistical methods.

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-128

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

At its January meeting the Council agreed that the first Stanley Melville Memorial Award be made in 1948. The Award will take the form of a grant to enable a member of the Institute to visit Clinics and Institutions abroad.

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-138

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Tumours arising from the suprarenal gland may be classified histologically into two welldefined groups:(a) Those derived from the adrenal cortex.(b) Those arising from the adrenal medulla.Tumours arising from the adrenal cortex are either adenomata or carcinoma. Either of these tumours may be associated with endocrine changes.From the adrenal medulla two main types of tumours arise—the neuroblastoma (sympatheticoblastoma) which is not associated with endocrine changes, and the pheochromaffinoma which, in view of its adrenaline secreting activity, may be the cause of paroxysmal hypertension.The assistance of the radiologist is almost invariably requested in the investigation of suprarenal tumours and in such circumstances the significance of calcification in the region of the suprarenal gland is often the source of much speculation.The purpose of this paper is to record a case of adrenal virilism due to an adenocarcinoma of the cortex in which massive calcification in the tumour was one of the presenting features.B.I., a female child, aged 12½ years, was brought for examination as the result of the gradual development of a husky voice for one year prior to examination. The onset of this change in the character of the voice had been attributed to a “heavy cold”, but despite the disappearance of the cold the voice had become distinctly masculine.Three months before examination it was noticed that the patient was becoming unduly hairy, which was later followed by well-marked facial acne.

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-139

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The diversity of sites in which the stomach may be found is well recognised, but a stomach lying anterior to the upper third of the left thigh so that it can be radiographed on the same film which includes both knee joints is an extreme rarity.The patient was a woman aged 56. She was short, slightly bent and looked older than her age. She was admitted to the Battle Hospital, Reading, for investigation of the cause of recent loss of weight with flatulence and dyspepsia. Her weight on admission was 4 stone 4 lb. It was noted that a very large left femoral hernia was present.I was asked to investigate the stomach to exclude a gastric carcinoma, and at the time of the examination I was unaware of the presence of the hernia which was hidden by the gown which the patient was wearing.At screen examination, the first few mouthfuls of barium revealed a long J-shaped stomach with normal mucosal pattern. With slightly greater filling I was surprised, and not a little alarmed, to see a tubular projection of barium from the lower third of the greature curvature descending rapidly towards the left hip joint (Fig. 1). A few seconds later the greater part of the stomach and duodenum were below the hip joint (Fig. 2), and as a matter of interest I recorded the view of the stomach and both knee joints on one 15 × 12 film (Fig. 3).

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-143

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Dr. Winternitz wishes to correct some figures in his Table I from the article on Carcinoma of the Cervix appearing in the January 1948 issue.

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-145

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The author reports two cases of simple ulceration occurring on the greater curvature of the stomach, one of which was confirmed by operation and histological examination. The second case showed a satisfactory response to medical treatment.References to the literature are made.

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-146

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The Editors wish to remind readers that opportunity for comment and criticism has recently been provided in the columns of this Journal and that every effort will be made to secure early publication of letters received.

DOI:10.1259/0007-1285-21-243-148-b

出版商:The British Institute of Radiology    

年代:1948

数据来源: WILEY