Radiotherapy for Inflammatory Conditions

The treatment of inflammatory processes with roentgen rays is far from new. Indeed, it goes back to about 1900. The earliest mention of the subject is to be found in papers by Freund,1Albers-Schonberg,2Gautier,3Rudis-Jicinsky4and Pusey,5and in the books of Williams6and Belot.7An interesting point is that some of the earliest therapeutic trials were made in this country, but they received no attention until the successful results had been repeatedly confirmed by others here and abroad. Many physicians are unaware of the favorable influence of roentgen rays or radium on various forms of acute or chronic inflammation. Yet the therapeutic value of irradiation in inflammations has been thoroughly substantiated, and the testimony is so generally favorable that one wonders why it is not used more than it is or why, in many cases, it is employed only after other