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In a joint retrospective study by 17 radiotherapy clinics in German-speaking countries the results of treatment of bronchial carcinoma after radiotherapy were analysed in 7503 cases. The age peak was between the 60th and 70th year. Squamous-cell carcinoma was the most frequent histological type, followed by anaplastic carcinoma, with adenocarcinoma being rare. There was a high proportion of histologically not clearly identified cases (27% in central and 35% in peripheral carcinomas). Survival rate at one year was 31% for central (3662 patients) and peripheral (961 patients) tumours, but only 2% at five years. Prognostically there was no difference between histological types and kind of radiotherapy or technique, but total dose affected survival rate. At a total dose of less than 5000 rd the survival rate at five years was minimal. The prognosis of combined surgical and radiotherapeutic measures was slightly better than with a radiotherapy alone, but results were unpredictable for the individual case. It is concluded that radiotherapy aiming at cure should be used in imoperable bronchial carcinoma if the tumour state and general condition of the patient appear to make a cure possible. But if this is not the case, radiotherapy should be used only palliatively, i.e. only to ameliorate symptoms.

Aplasia of the ulna is a rare malformation of the forearm. A woman patient with such malformation was presented in our clinic on the occasion of a banal dream. In addition to ulnar aplasia, her entire ulnolateral hand was missing. This findings is compared with the relatively few cases described in literature, reporting on the forms of ulnar aplasia observed so far and their additional local malformation. Assumptions regarding the possible origin of such malformations are mentioned, the combined malformations in other body regions as mentioned in literature are described, and brief reference is made to methods of treatment.

In a joint retrospective study by 17 radiotherapy clinics in German-speaking countries the results of treatment of bronchial carcinoma after radiotherapy were analysed in 7503 cases. The age peak was between the 60th and 70th year. Squamous-cell carcinoma was the most frequent histological type, followed by anaplastic carcinoma, with adenocarcinoma being rare. There was a high proportion of histologically not clearly identified cases (27% in central and 35% in peripheral carcinomas). Survival rate at one year was 31% for central (3662 patients) and peripheral (961 patients) tumours, but only 2% at five years. Prognostically there was no difference between histological types and kind of radiotherapy or technique, but total dose affected survival rate. At a total dose of less than 5000 rd the survival rate at five years was minimal. The prognosis of combined surgical and radiotherapeutic measures was slightly better than with a radiotherapy alone, but results were unpredictable for the individual case. It is concluded that radiotherapy aiming at cure should be used in imoperable bronchial carcinoma if the tumour state and general condition of the patient appear to make a cure possible. But if this is not the case, radiotherapy should be used only palliatively, i.e. only to ameliorate symptoms.

X-ray examination of patients with upper abdominal symptoms has been performed up to now mostly as a sequence of separate procedures; instead, an integrated procedure is recommended: a plain film of the upper abdomen should be taken first; a routine oral cholecystogram in the lying position 12 hrs after intake of the contrast medium should be omitted-instead the gallbladder should be visualized fluoroscopically with the patient remaining in the standing position or lying, and films should be taken during visualization. X-ray examination of the stomach and duodenum may follow immediately thereupon, eventually as well during pharmacologically induced hypotony. Then a fatty meal may be given in order to stimulate contraction of the gallbladder; if spasmolytics have been given before, contraction however might be hampered. The diagnostic significance of fatty meals applied as a routine procedure in X-ray diagnosis of gallbladder function is considered to be limited; on the other hand this procedure may improve the diagnosis of the morphological situation.

The five-year survival rate of patients with seminoma (61 cases) of all stages was 81% (seven-year survival rate 67%). Within this group the T1-2N0M0 stage had a five-year survival rate of 100%. Patients with tumours other than seminoma (52 cases) of all stages had a five-year survival rate of 54% (seven-year survival rate 47%). These results and those reported by others are the basis for not advocating routinely total radiation of the lymphatic pathways in the early tumour stages.

Between 1969 and 1975, 93 patients were irradiated because of renal carcinoma, most of them after surgical treatment. The 5-year survival rate was 71%; in 56% of the cases no symptom suggested metastasition or recurrence. Invasive growth into a vein was ascertained histologically in a high percentage but did not cause significant alteration of postoperative irradiation results. The evaluation reveals that megavoltage irradiation distinctly improves the prognosis after nephrectomy in comparison with sole radical operation of malignant renal tumors. In many cases radiation therapy of solitary metastases from hypernephroma may be utilized with curative intention.

A report is given on 113 patients who had been irradiated because of testicle tumors and a part of whom had been submitted to an anterior lymphadenectomy. The five-year survival rate of the seminomas of all stages was 81% (n = 61) and that of the non-seminomas of all stages was 54% (n = 52). It has to be mentioned that the group of patients with seminomas of the stages T1-2N0M0 had a five-year survival rate of 100%, and those with embryonic teratomas of all stages had a five-year survival rate of 69%. With regard to these therapy results, it is recommended to carry out the radiotherapy of testicle tumors in conformity to the individual stage. A therapy scheme is presented.