Bless you
Monday is World Radiology Day. In the beginning only X-rays were used, today therapeutic “rays” are used in addition to imaging processes such as sonography and magnetic resonance.
08.11.2021 06.00
Online since today, 6 a.m.
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X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen on November 8, 1895 and bears his name in almost all of Central and Eastern Europe in addition to the German-speaking region. In other linguistic areas it is often referred to with the expression X-Rays, which was originally used by Röntgen himself.
Ms. Röntgen’s hand became famous
Röntgen discovered the radiation when he observed fluorescent objects during the operation of a cathode ray tube, which began to glow brightly despite the tube being covered (with black cardboard). Roentgen’s achievement is to have recognized the importance of the newly discovered rays early on and to have been the first to scientifically investigate them. The x-ray of his wife’s hand, which he depicted in his first publication on X-rays, certainly contributed to Röntgen’s fame.
Extensive work by radiologists
The radiology teams at the Klagenfurt am Wörthersee Clinic and the LKH Villach carry out over 1,000 examinations every day and are on duty 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Doctors, radiology technologists and qualified nursing staff work hand in hand.
The range of services extends from classic x-rays to minimally invasive interventional procedures. Diseases can be diagnosed and treated by looking into organs and vessels. These include constrictions and vascular calcifications, which can subsequently lead to a stroke. An ultrasound of the carotid artery is also done before major operations on the heart or blood vessels.
At the same time, there are transarterial treatments for acute strokes, which are carried out in close cooperation with neurologists, or diagnostics for prostate disease in cooperation with urologists. But biopsies are also performed, something to determine the exact location of a tumor using a CT-guided puncture.
Heat or cold to destroy malignant tissue
Another part of interventional radiology is what is known as ablation. This is a process that uses heat to destroy tissue. “It is mostly malignant tissue that is destroyed by means of heat or microwaves under CT control, which means that an operation is no longer necessary. Ablation is often used in the liver or lungs as well as in benign but painful bone tumors, ”says Primarius Thomas Kau from Villach. Somewhat newer is the use of cold to destroy tissue by means of so-called cyroablation, which is used in the Klagenfurt Clinic on Lake Wörthersee. University Professor Klaus Hausegger: “This procedure is currently mainly used for tumors of the kidney and saves the patient an operation.”
Numerous uses at breast health centers
The range of services at the institutes for radiology is supplemented by the breast centers at the Klagenfurt Clinic and the LKH Villach. In addition to classic mammography, ultrasound examinations and breast MRIs as well as targeted biopsies are offered here to clarify suspicious findings.
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