Transversal dose profile reconstruction for clinical proton beams: A detectors inter-comparison.

PURPOSE: The main purpose of this work is the inter-comparison between different devices devoted to the transversal dose profile recostruction for daily QA tests in proton therapy. METHODS: The results obtained with the EBT3 radiochromic films, used as a reference, and other common quality control devices, have been compared with those obtained with a beam profiling system developed at the "Laboratori Nazionali del Sud" of Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN-LNS, Catania, Italy). It consists of a plastic scintillator screen (thickness 1 mm), mounted perpendicularly to the beam axis and coupled with a highly sensitive CCD detector in a light-tight box. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The tests, carried out both at the INFN-LNS and Trento Proton Therapy Center facilities, show, in general, a good agreement between the different detectors. The beam profiling system, in particular, appears to be a promising quality control device for 2-D relative dosimetry, because of its linear response in a dose rate range useful for proton therapy treatments, its high spatial resolution and its short acquisition and processing time.

Palonosetron and dexamethasone for prevention of nausea and vomiting in patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy with auto-SCT.

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of palonosetron combined with dexamethasone in prevention of chemotherapy (CT)-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients receiving high-dose (HD)-CT with auto-SCT, and the efficacy of a second dose of palonosetron in treating breakthrough emesis. One hundred thirty-four patients treated with HD-CT and auto-SCT for hematologic malignancies received palonosetron as prophylaxis for CINV on the first day of conditioning; patients were also administered dexamethasone throughout the entire period of conditioning. If breakthrough emesis occurred, a second dose of palonosetron was administered at 72 h after the first administration. Complete response and complete protection were observed in 36 and 26% of patients, respectively. One-half of the patients, re-treated with palonosetron for breakthrough emesis, were successfully rescued. Treatment with palonosetron plus dexamethasone seems to be encouraging in terms of prophylaxis of CINV and treatment of breakthrough emesis in the setting of HD-CT.

Amputation trauma of the face: surgical techniques and microsurgical replantations.

The reconstruction of facial parts after traumatic amputation is of special interest because of the psychological and functional implications such accidents have on the patient. Most amputations result from dog bites or knife wounds and are often sustained by children and young adults. The amputated part may be an anatomic structure of functional importance (e.g. , the lips) or a static structure of primarily aesthetic importance (e.g. , the ear or nose). Here, the Authors present results in 6 cases of facial amputation reconstructed using microsurgical replantation for upper lip amputation, with use of the facial artery musculomucosal flap to fill labial defects, and the Mladick method for ear replantation.