[Comparison between Lenstar LS 900 non-contact biometry and OcuScan RXP contact biometry for task delegation]. / Comparaison de la biométrie sans contact cornéen par LENSTAR LS 900 et de la biométrie contact par OCUSCAN RXP dans le cadre de la délégation de tâches.

INTRODUCTION: Non-contact biometers have many advantages including the delegation of tasks to orthoptists. This study analyses the reliability of measurements comparing contact and non-contacts techniques. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Comparative measurements were taken on 86 eyes of 45 patients (mean age: 74 years; 44.4 % males) in preoperative phacoemulsification by three orthoptists with experience in this task. Each patient had non-contact measurements (Lenstar LS 900, Haag-Streit) and contact measurements (corneal biometry and ultrasound pachymetry with OcuScan RXP, Alcon) and a keratometry refractometer (TONOREF II, Nidek). The axial length data, pachymetry, power of the intraocular lens (SRK/T formula), anterior chamber depth, and the average keratometry were analyzed by paired comparisons. RESULTS: The non-contact biometer was ineffective in 5.8 % of cases (Parkinson's disease, two cases; dense posterior subcapsular cataracts, three cases). The non-contact pachymetry was statistically significantly higher (546.4 µm vs. 538.6 µm; p<0.001). The axial length was significantly longer for the non-contact measurement (23.21 mm vs. 23.05 mm; p<0.0001). In 25.9 % of patients, this difference was greater than or equal to 0.3mm and affected the power of the implant chosen. The anterior chamber depth measured on non-contact biometry was statistically greater (3.33 mm vs. 3.03 mm; p<0.0001). However, there was no significant difference regarding the average keratometry (43.82 D vs. 43.78 D; p=0327). CONCLUSION: Besides the infectious benefit for patients, absence of cleaning and decontamination of biometric probes, non-contact measurements using Lenstar are an example of a safe activity that can be delegated to assistants. This technique has been used to optimize the refractive outcome of 25.9 % of our patients undergoing refractive cataract surgery.

One hundred years of radiotherapy in Turkey.

The study and practice of radiology in Turkey began in 1897, only 2 years after the discovery of X-rays. A simple X-ray machine was constructed in Istanbul, consisting of a Crookes tube, a Ruhmkorff coil, and a home-made battery. This machine was first used on wounded soldiers, for diagnostic purposes. The first report of X-rays being used therapeutically in Turkey was published in a national journal in 1904. By 1933, the most up-to-date radiotherapy equipment of the time had been installed in every major city in the country. Innovative radiotherapy techniques, such as rotational treatment, were also being tried in 1930s. Today, there are 45 radiotherapy centres in Turkey, and 400 radiation oncologists and 80 medical physicists practise there.

[Electron irradiation of cervix cancer using a new transvaginal tube system attached to the betatron]. / Elektronenbestrahlung des Kollumkarzinoms mit einem neuen transvaginalen Tubussystem, das am Betatron angesetzt wird.

A new tube system for the betatron, which normally is only applied in percutaneous electron therapy, was developed at the Radiotherapeutic Department of the Medical Faculty of Istanbul. The new system allows to use the betatron also in transvaginal irradiation of the uterine cervix cancer. The authors describe the technical features of this system, its clinical application, and the results achieved. In great tumor centres where every type of malignant disease is treated, it is indispensable to dispose of the equipment necessary for certain very special cases, even if this equipment is not used frequently. In recent years, applicators for cavitary therapy and high voltage units for percutaneous therapy have been gradually substituted for the tube system employed in former times with orthovolt therapy units in intravaginal irradiation of cervical and vaginal carcinomas. There are cases, however, where the therapy techniques used nowadays are not sufficient or where a cavitary therapy should be used. Furthermore electrons which today can easily be produced for percutaneous surface therapy with linear accelerators can also be used for transvaginal therapy. We, too, have developed a new tube system which was attached to the betatron and used in intravaginal irradiation. This study describes the tube system, its clinical application, and the results achieved.