Treatment of medulloblastoma using a computer-controlled tracking cobalt unit.
Radiation therapy of the length of the spinal column presents various clinical and physical problems. The completed plan may be complicated to set up, be time-consuming and require daily variation to achieve reasonable dose homogeneity. A case of medulloblastoma is used to illustrate the steps in producing a plan for dynamic treatment using a computer-controlled tracking cobalt unit. After definition by computed tomography, the target is considered in segments in order to develop a plan which keeps the spinal cord constantly positioned at the beam isocentre. The main computer is used to develop the patient treatment file and information is transferred to a second computer which controls and monitors the safe functioning of the cobalt unit. The cranial fields are treated separately in a conventional way. Good and consistent control of the dose distribution is achieved along the entire target volume. This technique is a marked improvement over all existing methods of treating the spinal axis.
D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003201:Computers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000295:instrumentation; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes