X-Ray Results in the Treatment of Fibroids and Uterine Hemorrhages

X-Ray Results in the Treatment of Fibroids and Uterine Hemorrhages

694 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GY!'i!ECOLOGY radiated. Radium is the treatment of choice for menorrhagia at any age; it is especially in...

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694

THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GY!'i!ECOLOGY

radiated. Radium is the treatment of choice for menorrhagia at any age; it is especially indicated in eases of menorrhagia at the menopause with slight enlargeF. J. SovBA. ment of the uterus. Marttndale, Louisa: Treatment of Fibromyomas of the 'Uterus and other Clauses of Menorrhagia. Journal of American Medical Association, 1924, lxxxiii, 1057. The writer reports his results in the treatment of :fibroids, :fibrosis uteri and climacteric hemorrhages; 126 were treated operatively, 87 with intensive roentgenray therapy. Ninety-five and five-tenths per cent of the eases treated with roentgen ray resulted in cure. The failures were operated on, but nothing accounting for the failure could be found. The author concludes that as long as one's diagnosis necessarily remains faulty, there is a certain danger in using extensive roentgen-ray therapy for any but those cases in which we are fairly certain that we are dealing with an uncomplicated case, e.g., a fibroid uterus well under size of a six. months' pregnancy, interstitial rather than subperitoneal. In all eases that are at all doubtful in diagnosis, operative treatment is advised. GROVER LIESE. Nemec, Elo: X-Bay Results ill the Treatment of Fibroids and Uterine Hemorrhages. Bratislavske Lekarkse Listy, 1925, v, 12. Such treatment consists either in direct or indirect application of the rays, either directly to ovaries or uterus, or indirectly to spleen, hypophysis and thyroid. Direct treatment was resorted to in all cases of uterine fibroids. Indirect irradiation, advocated by some writers, for the treatment of fibroids was not used because the results so far reported in literature are far from encouraging. Out of a total of 53 cases of uterine hemorrhage, in 36 both ovaries, in 11 the spleen, and in 6 but one ovary were radiated. Ovarian treatment is a reliable method but should be done in younger women with greatest care since it might result in sterilization. The result of unilateral ovarian irradiation depends only upon the fortunate selection of the correct side. Spleen treatment does not seem to act as a specific; and though it acts quickly, the effect is but short lived. AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT.

w.: Lim.itatiollS and Dangers of OollServative Therapy in the Treatment of Gynecologic Ailments with Special Reference to Roentgen-Bay Therapy. Medizinische Klinik, 1926, xxii, 719.

Benthin,

The eonservative treatment of pelvic inflammations is not always successful, regardless of whether the therapy consists of local heat, protein injections, baths, etc. The same holds true for the treatment of certain gynecologic ailments by means of psychotherapy. The largest proportion of failures is obtained in the treatment of disorders of the endocrine glands. This is most likely due to the fact that the symptoms of an endocrine disturbance such as leucorrhea, dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia, amenorrhea, sterility, etc., are considered to be of endocrine origin only when all other etiologic factors have been exhausted. Even roentgen-ray therapy has done very little good, and in many instances it has done harm. In outspoken eases of hypoplasia, no improvement has been produced by the x-ray and even in eases of climacteric hemorrhages serious bleeding recurs very frequel).tly after treatment. The dangers from the Roentgen ray are numerous and not all are known. Aside from the damage to the skin and to the intestines from an overdose, there are other dangers. Numerous examinations of the blood have shown that the general reaction does not parallel the indicated dose but is dependent upon the activity of the blood-