[en] Psychosomatic status at the time of A-bomb explosion, behavior and impression immediately after the explosion, aftereffects on life, and mental changes were sought through interview for 80 aged survivors in Hiroshima A-bomb survivor home by psychiatric social workers. (Namekawa, K.)

[en] Since cancer is primarily a disease of the older population, the major questions relate to the stage of the disease at the time of initial presentation, a decision as to whether the tumor can be cured or only palliated, and how best to design a treatment program which maximizes the potential for cure or palliation with the minimum in terms of complications as a consequence of the treatment program being pursued. Within this decision, specific emphasis is to be placed on treatment programs that can be tolerated by the older patient without compromising the potential for tumor control. Therefore, the basic goals in cancer management using radiation therapy techniques relate to the potential for cure of the patient, emphasis on improvement in the quality of life as related to improvement relative to symptoms and the potential for preservation of anatomy and function

[en] from the studies made on the Hiroshima inhabitants having survived to the atomic bombs explosions, M. Alice Stewart showed the danger of radiations for pregnant women, children and elderly people. She has estimated that the risk of dying of a neoplasm is multiplied by two for persons aged of more than 55 years, comparatively with others adults; But for children aged of less than ten years this risk is one thousand time superior than for fifty five years old people. (N.C.)

[en] Macular degeneration is a major health problem. Less than 10 % of the cases can be successfully treated by laser therapy. Low dose radiation therapy (in the range of 20 Gy) appears to decrease neo-vascularization. These early results need to be confirmed through a randomized trial. (author)

[en] The indications for oncological treatment and thus for radio- and chemotherapy are clearly defined. However, there are mostly changes of the otherwise usual procedure to be discussed in radiotherapy of aged persons: In decision on the kind of therapy, in medical and physical treatment planning, in the performance of radiotherapy, and in concomitant internal treatment. The physician may encounter ethical conflicts if only palliative therapy is possible. In this regard, it is the principal aim to alleviate the patient's life, to render endurable, worth living the last stage of his disease. (orig.)

[en] There is a lack of information on which to form the basis for guidelines for radiotherapeutic practice in elderly patients. In considering the use of radiotherapy in such patients, three major problems need to be addressed: firstly to determine the likely natural course of the disease in relation to age and to assess prognosis; secondly to acquire information on the tolerance to radiotherapy which includes a consideration of technical problems and biological factors; and thirdly to assess how these factors affect treatment decision-making, in particular the choice between different modalities of treatment used alone or in combination. (UK)

[en] A total of 2,878 unselected subsequent CT examinations carried out in 1984 were analyzed retrospectively. All studies were performed in a university hospital with a centralized department of diagnostic radiology. Most of the patients investigated were hospitalized; there were only 12% outpatients. Of the patients studied 12.6% were older than 65 years and 20.5% older than 60; 17.7% were emergency cases and patients between 16 and 25 years of age represented the largest fraction. In all other age groups the relative distribution between emergency cases and regular studies revealed no significant differences. There was no statistically significant difference between the older age group (patients older than 65 years) and the total population of this study in almost all items investigated, i.e., no differences in CT examination time and no differences in preparation time (time between two CT studies). The rate of abdominal CT examinations was 7% higher in the older age group, while the relative distribution of all other CT examinations was again comparable to the total population under study. Thus, the expected increase in patients in the older age group does not measurably prolong the CT examination time. This statement applies to a major referral center with a high percentage of inpatients. (orig.)

[en] 37 persons whose mean age was 71.1 yr., volunteered from an Elderhostel program to participate in a quasiexperimental study of the effect of strategy for coping with nuclear threat on a planetary or lifeworld view. Coping strategy was assessed by the score on 10 forced-choice items of the Peacemaking questionnaire. When 14 high and 10 low scorers were compared on Perception of Lifeworld scores, only chance differences were noted. For this small sample, many scores reached ceiling value because of the insensitivity of the Peacemaking questionnaire. Highly truncated data were also attributed to the fact that Elderhostelers had lived through periods of war and peace. Also, this pilot study coincided with stories in the media in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Replication was recommended

[en] We report a partially thrombosed giant of the aneurysm basilar artery with prominent mass effect, diagnosed in an 11 year-old child who presented with neurological deficits due to brain stem compression. After the patent portion of the aneurysm was embolised with Guglielmi detachable coils, remarkable clinical improvement occurred. Angiography demonstrated complete occlusion of the aneurysm and MRI revealed dramatic shrinkage of the aneurysm at 6-month and 1-year follow-up. (orig.)

[en] The elderly cancer patient poses a unique challenge to the diagnostic radiologist to practice humane, cost-effective medicine. Although radiology has undergone a remarkable technological revolution in the past two decades, the cost of many new imaging procedures is high and at times the authors' diagnostic ability often exceeds their therapeutic options. The focus of this lecture is one some of the limitations and benefits of diagnostic imaging in the elderly cancer patients