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Cancer: a hospital corrects an overdose in radiotherapy after 4 years

2022-07-30T23:53:33.401Z


Following a computer error detected by the Émile-Roux hospital in Haute-Loire, 134 patients suffering from cancer treated by radiotherapy


The Émile-Roux hospital in Puy-en-Velay, in Haute-Loire, was forced to declare a “significant event” to the Nuclear Safety Authority, which communicated its nature on July 13.

The hospital center has put an end to an overdose of ionizing radiation from its external radiotherapy unit, which had been going on since June 2018, reveals the daily Le Progrès.

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This malfunction was only detected on June 24, during an internal check.

It was classified at level 1 on a scale of 0 to 7 of events in radiotherapy, by the Nuclear Safety Authority, "with whom we had a meeting (Friday) in the presence of the Regional Health Agency", specifies Cédric Ponton, director of strategy at the Puy-en-Velay hospital center.

An “acceptable” overdose of 1 to 2%

The overdose results from an "error during the computer modeling of the treatment table, at the level of the position of the patient's head, prior to the radiotherapy sessions to define the intensity and the orientation of the different beams of ionizing radiation so as to preserve healthy tissues, ”explains the Nuclear Safety Authority in a press release.

The ASN mentions “an overdose of 1 to 2% (…) which generally remains within acceptable tolerances”.

However, it asked the establishment to recalculate the dosimetry of all the patients concerned in order to "ensure the absence of clinical consequences".

Read also“It’s extremely promising”: treatments with “nanos” attacking cancer

“After verification, the overdose was applied to 134 patients who underwent external radiotherapy treatments there for cancers in the cranial region or ENT”, specifies the management of the hospital which had initially transmitted the number of 146 to the ASN.

These 134 patients will receive a letter from the Nuclear Safety Authority "to reassure them", "indicating that the overdose had no impact on their health, their treatment and its management".

Faced with the duration of the dysfunction, the establishment announces that “the forthcoming establishment of a Feedback Committee should lead to a strengthening of internal controls”.

Source: leparis

All life articles on 2022-07-30

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