Medical imaging of common orthopedic conditions in childhood.

摘要

Within months of Conrad Roentgen's publication of his discovery of the x-ray in late 1896, fluoroscopy was in widespread use on human subjects by practitioners with minimal training. The ability to visualize the human anatomy beneath the skin surface without disrupting the skin revolutionized the practice of medicine. Fluoroscopy was used to diagnose a variety of disorders, such as fractures and bone deformities, as well as to "treat" a variety of conditions (Tinea capitis and enlarged thymus in children). Never in history had a new innovation been used so widely on the population with little understanding of the potential risks involved. It was not long before reports of the deleterious effects of high radiation exposure to humans began to appear. Shortly after patients were exposed to lengthy fluoroscopic procedures (large, 1-time radiation dose), they developed skin reddening, hair loss, reddening of the eyes, and with large enough doses, skin ulcerations.