[Pulmonary vein anomaly in a patient with pulmonary aspergillosis]. / Anomalie venoasa pulmonara la un pacient cu aspergilom pulmonar.

Vein pulmonary anomalies are seldom met. They have a prevalence of 0.4-0.7% of the cases (according to the American authors). The case under discussion is a 68-year-old patient, who was admitted in the hospital for hemoptysis in low quantity but recurrent, physical asteny, fever and weight loss. The onset had been two months before admission to the hospital. The thoracic X-ray shows opacity at the left apex with marked subcostal and costal intensity, with a homogenous area of 5/6 cm. The thoracic CT exam shows multiple bilateral fibronodular images and the left upper lobe shows a cavitary image with regular and thin walls; intracavitary there is an oval formation with mixed densities of approximate 3.5/4/4.5 cm, which suggests a lung aspergilloma. Surgery will be performed--left upper lobectomy associated with atypical resection from the left Fowler segment. During the surgery it is noticed that the left upper pulmonary vein is abnormaly in the left pulmonary hilum. It has a cranial trajectory, runs in parallel with the left phrenic nerve on the mediastinal surface of the left upper lobe then goes in the mediastinum and pours into the left vein branchocefalic trunk. The post-surgery recovery was slowly favourable with complete pulmonary re-expansion, but with the persistence of the aerial losses which imposed pleural drainage for a period of over 2 weeks.

Total body irradiation prior to bone marrow transplantation--the experience of the Institute of Oncology Prof. Dr. Al. Trestioreanu Bucharest.

PURPOSE: To present the technique of total body irradiation (TBI), applied for the first time in Romania, at the Institute of Oncology Bucharest, as part of stem cell transplantation for hematological malignancies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The total dose administered was 12 Gy at the reference point, 2 Gy/fraction, one fraction per day, 6 consecutive days, with a total dose of 8 - 11.4 Gy delivered to the lung, using Mevatron Primus linear accelerator (6 MV & 15 MV, 200-300 cGy/min in isocenter), in vivo dosimetry detectors and equipment for the reference dosimetry, personalized blocks for lung shielding sustained by polymethylmethaacrylate (PPMA) plate, Simulix HP simulator, and computer tomographic (CT) scans. Techniques used were: a) two parallel opposed anteroposterior / posteroanterior (AP/PA) fields with the patient in prone and supine position; b) two parallel opposed lateral fields with the patient placed on a lateral table, at 320 cm from the source. The percentage depth dose, tissue maximum ratio (TMR), off axis ratio (OAR) and the reference dose rate were measured for every patient's geometrical characteristics, with an uncertainty of +/- 2.2% and were used to calculate monitor units and to evaluate the dose in organs at risk (lungs, gonads, eyes etc). RESULTS: 5 patients (3 with the AP/PA technique and 2 with the lateral technique) were irradiated. All patients completed their irradiation in good clinical condition. The acute side effects were minimal (WHO grade 1: nausea/ vomiting--all patients; diarrhea--1 patient; headache--2 patients; photophobia and diplopia--1 patient; head and neck skin erythema--all patients). Because of the short follow-up period no safe evaluation of late side effects can be done. However, during this period one patient developed a non-aggressive form of chronic liver graft vs. host disease (GVHD) and one patient died due to acute GVHD. CONCLUSION: TBI as part of stem cell transplantation for hematological malignancies was successfully realized at our Institute, with favorable clinical results. This technique is easy to carry out and reproducible.