Medicine

The Central Research Institute of Roentgenology and Radiology of Russian Ministry of Public Health. St.Petersburg and Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute have developed and realized the method of proton stereotaxic therapy (see video film) with using of the narrow high energy proton beam (1000 MeV) in combination with the rotation technique of the irradiation. The advantage of this method is the irradiated zone to be precisely located inside the object selected for the proton therapy. The head brain in our case. Thus the sharp borders of the irradiated zone and a high ratio of the doze in the centre of the irradiated zone to the doze at the object`s surface are provided. These advantages are caused by a rather low scatering of the high energy proton beam penetrating the substance. It allows to use this method for the effective bloodness surgery of head brain various diseases. In particular, the especially good results are acheived in the pituitary adenoma and arteriovenous malformation of the brain treatment. Moreover the majority of cases are related to unoprable by the usual neurosusgery. Since 1975 the course of proton therapy at the PNPI synchrocyclotron has been given to 1257 patients. The presents status and results of proton therapy are shown in tables 1 and 2 ( results.doc or results.pdf ) and for some fixed deseases in figure (or figure.pdf ). No one complication during proton therapy of patients has been observed though the irradiation was carried out near the vital centres of the head brain. The experience, accumulated for these years, testifies to large opportumities of the stereitaxis proton therapy method used the high energy proton beam. The scales of this method application allowing to releive patients of the difficult and expensive neurosurgical operations will be extended in the process of development and improvment of diagnostic methods of the head brain diseases.
(For more detail review see article "Proton therapy at PNPI synchrocyclotron" in PNPI report of the High Energy Physics Division "Main Scientific Activities 1971-1996" p.295-303 and Proton therapy in PNPI").