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PubMed1980

Assessment with TLD of radiation exposure to staff during radium insertions in cancer of cervix.

A radiation protection survey has been carried out using TLD to assess the radiation exposure to staff during radium insertions for cancer of the cervix. The staff monitored were the radiotherapist, anaesthetist and operating theatre assistant. The radiotherapist, who received the highest exposure, had on the average 160 muGy (16 mrad) whole body (chest) dose while the finger tip doses were around 600 muGy (60 mrad) from the insertion of 60 mg radium. TLD was found to be convenient and sensitive for this purpose, including estimation of finger-tip doses. It helps to maintain the confidence of the staff that their doses are "as low as readily achievable" and also offers a means of checking improvements in practice where found necessary.

Brachytherapy↗

PubMed1987

Geometry adopted by Manchester radium applicators and Selectron afterloading applicators in intracavitary treatment for carcinoma cervix uteri.

Twenty-eight patients with early-stage carcinoma of the uterine cervix were treated using one standard Manchester radium application and one afterloading Selectron application. In each case, radiographs were analysed to determine differences in geometry of applicators relative to each other, or to the bony pelvis. During the Selectron treatment the applicators lay significantly more anterior in the pelvis, with a reduced angulation between the axes of the uterus and the vagina. The separation between the ovoids was increased. An identical analysis of 25 patients who had received two radium applications showed that the uterine tube lay significantly more anterior in the pelvis during the second application. Reasons for these differences and their possible clinical importance in terms of increased dose rate to critical tissue are discussed.

Brachytherapy↗

PubMed1987

Physicians, reformers and occupational disease: the discovery of radium poisoning.

Teenage girls and young women, whose job it was to apply luminous paint containing radium to watches during World War I, were among the first industrial radiation poisoning victims in the United States. This paper recounts both the story of how their afflictions became "recognized" occupational diseases and of the tangled web of governmental-industrial-academic collusion (largely based on industrial funding of research and experts) which delayed this recognition. It shows how these industrial-academic arrangements led to the establishment of the major academic training programs in occupational medical and industrial hygiene still in existence. Using historical sources, this study provides evidence of moral lapses by medical researchers, including directly lying to the victims, withholding data on the true extent of illness and radiation contamination and of distorting evidence. The pivotal role of the Consumers League and of Dr. Alice Hamilton in establishing the truth of the radium dial painting poisonings is discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

Radium needles implant in the treatment of extensive vaginal involvement from cervical carcinoma. A dosimetry appraisal.

An appraisal of the dosimetry of a modified brachytherapy approach is presented for improving the local control of extensive vaginal involvement from carcinoma of the cervix. This approach incorporates radium needles implant to the vaginal disease in conjunction with the usual routine intracavitary radium application. The aim of the interstitial implant is specifically to supplement the dose to the vaginal disease from the intracavitary application. Our procedure for accomplishing this boost in the dose to the vagina depends on the location, extent and thickness of the vaginal lesion following external beam irradiation of the whole pelvis. An increase of greater than 50 per cent in the dose to the vaginal disease is gained by this combination intracavitary/implant approach which has been used in a variety of cases covering virtually all pertinent stages of cervical carcinoma. Discussion of the dosimetry of example cases is presented to demonstrate the value of combining interstitial and intracavitary therapy for this specific clinical application.

Brachytherapy↗

PubMed1996

Historical vignette: The radium bomb: Harvey Cushing and the interstitial irradiation of gliomas.

Harvey Cushing performed over 2000 operations on patients with brain tumors, including 832 for gliomas. He implanted radioactive radium needles, known as a "radium bomb," in a small number of these patients. He was not impressed with the results and did not pursue this method of treatment in a serious way. The authors present here Cushing's little-known experience with brachytherapy and discuss the reasons for his lack of interest in this technique, despite his advocacy of radiotherapy for certain lesions. An interesting perspective is offered for contemporary neurosurgeons involved in the treatment of brain tumors with cranial irradiation.

Brachytherapy↗

PubMed1999

Radium and radon in natural underground water supply in the region of Lódź, Poland.

The region of Lódź, located in the central part of Poland, is very specific with respect to water supply coverage. In this densly populated and extensively industrialised region there is a lack of natural reservoirs of surface water in the nearest vicinity of Lódź. Therefore, over 50% of water for public and domestic use is provided from underground water intakes. It is well known from the literature that in underground water may occur radionuclides in the uranium and thorium decay series. Underground water intakes in Lódź used for public water supplies have been surveyed for the presence of radium-226 and radon-222 since the earlier studies of quality standards of the gross alpha and gross beta activity pointed to their possible excessive values. The surveillance was based on the guidelines set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The measurements of radium-226 activity showed its different concentrations depending on the age of the water-bearing level. These concentrations fell within the range of < 10 divided by 50 Bqm-3. Measurements of radon yielded similar results and its highest concentrations were found in the Lower cretaceous and Jurassic formations. Radon concentrations ranged from 200 to 11,400 Bqm-3. A maximum annual dose taken into the body in the population drinking this water may account for 0.85 microSv which is lower than the limit recommended by WHO.

Carcinogens, Environmental↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Skeletal and tissue lesions resulting from exposure to radium and fission products.

The chief effects of absorbed radionuclides and external radiation are radiation osteitis, disturbed bone growth, myelofibrosis and bone tumors. The lesions are dependent in part on localization and character of the radiation and in part on dose. Data on radium have been derived from dial painters, radium chemists and those treated some years ago by oral or parenteral administration.

Aged↗

PubMed2001

Achieving compliance with the radium standards for drinking water in a midwestern community: a case study.

The problem of elevated levels of radium in the drinking-water supply of DeKalb, Illinois, a Midwestern community about 65 miles west of Chicago with approximately 35,000 residents, has been a contentious issue for over a decade. The central players in the controversy include a group of concerned citizens, city officials, the Illinois Pollution Control Board, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). Achieving a satisfactory resolution to the problem has been a long, drawn-out process that illustrates how ill-timed proposals, changing risk assessments, different perceptions of risk, and the high costs of compliance can influence the direction of risk management decisions. The purpose of this study is to analyze how these factors sustained the debate and prevented an expeditious solution to the problem. The study uses document analysis as its primary research tool. The questions raised by the controversy, along with their implications for environmental policy, are discussed, as are some of the more important lessons learned from the case. Because of many uncertainties, there were no clear winners in the controversy, although, in the context of the most recent U.S. EPA risk assessments, the community is now poised for better protection from the potential dangers of radium in drinking water than it might have been had citizen action been absent.

Carcinogens↗

PubMed2004

Radiation dosimetry of a graphite moderated radium-beryllium source.

The Brookhaven National Laboratory Sigma Pile is a radium-beryllium neutron source imbedded in a cube of graphite blocks. The pile is approximately 2.13 m on four sides and is 3.07 m high. Thermoluminescent dosimeters were used to determine the neutron and gamma-ray dose rates in the pile. Gamma-ray dose rate measurements have also been made in the air outside of the pile, while the radium-beryllium neutron source was being withdrawn from the pile. The Monte Carlo code has been used to calculate the coupled neutron-photon transport. Measured dose rates at various locations agreed with the calculated values within 5% to 15%.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2005

Uranium, radium and radon exhalation studies in geological samples belonging to some areas of punjab, using track etching technique.

With a view to prospect the uranium, radium and radon concentration and related health risk assessments in areas of Muktsar and Ferozepur districts in Punjab, the fission track registration technique has been used for the analysis of water and soil samples. Uranium content in water ranged from 5.47 to 10.19 microg/l(-1) and 6.28 to 11.74 microg/l(-1) for Muktsar and Ferozepur respectively. Uranium content in soil samples of Muktsar and Ferozepur ranged from 1.14 to 1.90 mg/kg(-1) and 1.26 to 2.44 mg/kg(-1) respectively. Radium concentration in these soil samples has been found to vary from 3.97 to 15.94 bq/kg(-1) and 7.24 to 24.14 bq/kg(-1) for Muktsar and Ferozepur respectively. The radon exhalation values were calculated in terms of area (E(A)) and mass (E(M)). The values of E(M) ranged from 4.9 to 20.6 (mbqkg(-1) hr(-1)) for Muktsar and 9.4 to 31.3 (mbqkg(-1)hr(-1)) for Ferozepur and values of E(A) ranged from 173 to 728 (mbqm(-2)hr(-1)) for Muktsar and 330 to 1102 (mbqm(-2)hr(-1)) for Ferozepur district. These values in general are low and not significant from health hazard point of view. The values of uranium concentration in water samples of these areas are lower than those reported for soil and water samples of Himachal Pradesh. These values are also lower than those reported by Singh et al. for the rocks belonging to uranium and copper mines of Bihar.

Geological Phenomena↗

PubMed1991

[Development of new, more effective radiation protection methods for radium-treated patients and report of two of our most unusual cases].

In year 1936 was opened in Budapest the Loránd Eötvös Radium and Röntgen Institute having 2 Ci radium in many tubes and needles. In the first years the occupational gamma exposure of persons working in the gynecological department and in the health physical laboratory was very high, because the maximum permissible dose recommended by the ICRP in 1928 was 1.5 R/week. With the developing of new radiation protection equipments was the absorbed dose strongly decreased. A physician and a physicist received total more than 2-times higher dose, than the permissible newest dose limit, but they are now 86 and 87 year old and without any radiation detriment, in good health. Similar publications with such long continually measured dose data, was not found in the literature.

Aged↗

PubMed1990

[Radium contact irradiation of vocal cord carcinoma--a possible treatment method?].

In the course of the use of carrier- bounded radioactive substances for the treatment of the vocal cord carcinoma, 113 patients with a vocal cord carcinoma were treated with radium contact irradiation after thyroid cartilage windowing at the ENT University Clinic Essen. The period of study extended from 1972 to 1983. 88,6% of the patients with vocal cord carcinoma, who showed a typical localisation for radium contact irradiation, became recurrence-free. About 88,0% of the patients, who were led through an irradiation treatment of extended indication, became recurrence-free. A normal vocal function was achieved in 71,7% of all cases.

Brachytherapy↗

PubMed1986

Early effects of radium therapy on natural killer (NK) activity in patients with gynaecological malignancies.

The effect of radium therapy on NK activity in patients with gynecological cancer is presented. Patients were tested before treatment, immediately after treatment and at 1 week intervals for 2 weeks. NK activity in patients before treatment was not statistically different from the normal controls. There was a statistically significant decrease of NK activity after treatment compared to pretreatment value (p less than 0.001). After 1 week NK activity reached pretreatment value and did not change a week later. Radium therapy does not result in a long lasting depression of NK activity, the important host defense mechanism.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

[Calculation of the dosage distributions in intracavitary radium applicators based on measurements of the directional dependence of the dose rate].

A simple method for the calculation of dose distributions around intracavitary radium applicators has been developed. The cylindrical activity distribution of a single radium source is simulated by a row of point sources. The inverse square law for point sources is modified by two factors, one depending on direction and the other on distance, to account for absorption and scatter in the sources, applicator, and tissue. Factors depending on direction for Buchler applicators (intrauterine tubes, round plates, and cones) have been determined from measurements in a water phantom, because the angular dependence of dose rate in tissue differs from that in air owing to the influence of scatter.

Brachytherapy↗

PubMed1985

On the therapy of induratio penis plastica (Peyronies disease) by means of radium moulages.

In the past 50 years 2210 patients suffering from induratio penis plastica were admitted to our department. In 69% of the cases an improvement could be observed within 18 months after radium moulage therapy. By improving radium protection the therapy may now be performed without any significant exposure of the testes. A 15 year old patient is the youngest case reported in world literature. Trend analyses show a case shift towards the senium.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

[Clinical results of afterloading short-term therapy compared to radium therapy].

Intracavitary brachytherapy will continue to play an important role in primary radiotherapy of gynecologic tumors. However, afterloading methods with remote control will more and more replace the classical radium therapy. The authors discuss the radiophysical and radiobiological differences between radium therapy and afterloading therapy with remote control and present a comparison of both methods based on their own clinical results.

Brachytherapy↗

PubMed1975

Controlled trial of repeated halothane anaesthetics in patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix treated with radium.

39 patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix who were treated with radium and required repeated general anaesthetics were randomised to halothane and control groups. Their serum-alanine-aminotransferase (S.G.P.T.) levels were measured before each general anaesthetic, and those patients whose S.G.P.T. levels rose above 100 I.U. per litre were freed from the restriction determined by the initial allocation and treated as indicated clinically. None of the 21 patients in the control group had S.G.P.T. levels rising above 100 I.U. per litre. 4 out of 18 patients in the halothane group developed S.G.P.T. levels above 100 i.u. per litre before their third radium treatment. None of these had any symptoms or alteration in other liver-function tests, but liver biopsies in 2 of these patients showed changes characteristic of Hepatitis. Arbitrary selection of 18 out of the 39 patients would only give rise to the degree of abnormality observed in the halothane-treated group with a probability of about 0-02. In the patients studied who required repeated general anaesthetics at short time intervals, the monitoring of S.G.P.T. levels before each operation was useful screen for liver damage and may have reduced postoperative hepatic necrosis by preventing further anaesthetics with halothane when the liver was already damaged.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Neoplasms following childhood radium irradiation of the nasopharynx.

Eighteen to 35 years after admission to a clinic for the prevention of deafness, no increased overall cancer risk could be detected among 904 persons who had been treated with nasopharyngeal radium irradiation when compared with the risk among 2,021 persons who were either treated surgically or not treated at all, although there were differences at specific sites. An increased risk of developing both benign and malignant head and neck tumors was found among irradiated persons. Whereas no one head and neck site showed a statistically significant excess, a slight excess of brain cancer occurred 15-20 years after radium treatment. No increase in thyroid cancer risk was observed, a result possibly attributable to the low radiation doses to this organ, and the relatively small population irradiated.

Adenoids↗