With an overdose of 1 to 2%, 134 patients are affected, according to the Nuclear Safety Authority.
The Émile Roux hospital in Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire), has put an end to an overdose of ionizing radiation from its external radiotherapy unit which had lasted since June 2018, according to concordant sources quoted by AFP, confirming a information from the daily Le Progrès.
“This malfunction, detected on June 24 during an internal check, was finally classified as level 1 on the ASN-SFRO scale of events in radiotherapy, graduated from 0 to 7, by the Nuclear Safety Authority, with whom we have had a meeting on Friday in the presence of the Regional Health Agency“, declared to AFP Cédric Ponton, director of the strategy of the hospital center of Puy-en-Velay.
Effective since June 15, 2018, the overdose of ionizing radiation generated by a particle accelerator, to destroy cancer cells, was discovered “during a quality control carried out as part of the modernization of the radiotherapy department, which will be completed next year with the renewal of the accelerator“, specified the director of the strategy.
“This incident is the result of an error that occurred 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 orientation of the different beams of radiation ionizers to preserve healthy tissue“, indicates for its part the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) in a press release.
“Acceptable tolerances”
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“. “After verification, the overdose was applied to 134 patients who underwent external radiotherapy treatments there for cancers in the cranial region or ENT“, specifies to AFP the management of the hospital which had initially transmitted the number of 146 to the ASN.
She adds that she willsend a letter to these 134 patients to reassure them, indicating that the overdose had no impact on their health, their treatment and its management“. Faced with the duration of the malfunction, the establishment announces that “the forthcoming establishment of a Feedback Committee should lead to a strengthening of internal controls“.