[Comparative assessment of the doses received by patients during radiodiagnosis of the urinary system]. / Sravnitel'naia otsenka doz, poluchennykh patsientami pri luchevoi diagnostike mochevydelitel'noi sistemy.

The authors present some literature data, estimated data and results of phantom measurements in order to give comparative assessment of radiation exposure of patients during radio-contrast and radionuclide investigation of the urinary system. The importance and distribution of doses absorbed by organs and tissues (HT) and effective equivalent doses (HE) in two most commonly used radiodiagnostic methods were studied. In radiocontrast urography (RCUG) the maximum values of tissue doses were noted for the female gonads and the organs adjacent to the kidneys (the liver, pancreas, etc.). However, in radionuclide investigation (RNI) of the urinary system HT reached its maximum directly in the organs under study (the kidneys and urinary bladder). Considerable difference in the patients' HE was also revealed. In view of the above data, RNI is recommended for clinical use even at the first stage of diagnosis of diseases of the urinary system. Diagnostic information obtained with RNI makes it possible to give up RCUG in some cases.

[Diagnostic information value and radiation load on the patient of retrograde cholangiopancreatography and computed tomography of the pancreas]. / Diagnosticheskaia informativnost' i luchevaia nagruzka na bol'nogo pri retrogradnoi kholangiopankreatografii i komp'iuternoi tomografii podzheludochnoi zhelezy.

The paper is devoted to a comparative analysis of the diagnostic value of retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and computed tomography (CT) in 50 patients with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic tumors and comparison of radiation exposure of a patient during the use of these methods of x-ray examination. CT was shown to be a more informative method, particularly in the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. However, the results obtained with CT, were not specific enough to make convincing differential diagnosis between tumorous and inflammatory processes. In parallel with it radiation exposures the patients were subjected to, were assessed using an original method with thermoluminescent dosage meters. It was established that tissue doses, on the whole, were larger in ERCP than in CT, the difference being determined by the distinctive features of both methods and the duration of the endoscopic component in pancreatography.

[Pages from the history of roentgenology and radiology in Latvia]. / Stranitsy istorii rentgenologii i radiologii v Latvii.

The author discusses the history of roentgenology in Latvia singling out 3 periods in its development: 1) from the discovery of x-rays up to the Great October Socialist Revolution and the establishment of Soviet power in Latvia; 2) the bourgeois period in Latvia (1920-1940); 3) from the beginning of the Great Patriotic War to the present period. The paper is devoted to an analysis of the main historical events and facts pertaining to the formation and further development of roentgenology and radiology in Latvia. The role and importance of the roentgenology and radiology chair and the Republican roentgenoradiological center in the development of roentgenoradiology as independent clinical branches, training of specialists, the development and clinical application of present-day methods of radiation therapy are considered. The chief advances of Latvian radiologists and their contacts with leading specialists are marked.