[A woman with periodical bleeding from her umbilicus].

A 33-year-old woman complained of a tumor in her umbilicus with bleeding during her menstrual periods. The diagnosis was made after surgical excision of the tumour: endometriosis of the umbilicus, also known as 'Villar's node'.

Ultrasonically guided transperineal seed implantation of the prostate: modification of the technique and qualitative assessment of implants.

During the period 1988-1991, 23 patients with prostatic carcinoma were treated by transperineal iodine seed implantation guided by transrectal ultrasound. We introduce a refinement of the implantation technique using a rigid column of seeds and spacers. The uniformity parameter based on the peak width of the natural volume-dose histogram demonstrated quantitatively that this refinement resulted in a more accurate seed arrangement.

[Breast preserving therapy: shorter treatment duration by the peroperative introduction of iridium guide needles].

In the Deventer Radiotherapeutic Institute from January 1981 through December 1989, 359 patients who had undergone a breast-saving operation were irradiated. Since 1987, iridium guiding needles were introduced peroperatively in 79 of these patients. Subsequently, irradiation was administered.

Comparison between predicted and actual dose distribution in interstitial therapy of the oral cavity.

During the period 1985-1986, 10 patients with lesions of the floor of the mouth or of the mobile part of the tongue were treated by interstitial curietherapie with iridium-192. In the patients treated with the looping technique essential differences were found between the predicted source configuration and that actually achieved, resulting in a disagreement between precalculated and actual dose distribution. To avoid this undesirable situation, a simple oral cavity applicator was constructed which guarantees parallelism and equidistance between the implanted needles.

Dose determination in bladder and rectum during intracavitary irradiation of cervix carcinoma.

The radiation dosage in the base of the bladder and in the anterior wall of the rectum during intracavitary irradiation of cervix carcinoma can be determined easily by use of intracavitary transvesical and transrectal ultrasound and simultaneous radiography. In case of excessive doses to the organs at risk, the dose can be lowered by rearrangement of the vaginal gauze packing in the same sitting.