Projects

Project Description

Osteoporosis and PIFs are known to reduce patients’ quality of life (QOL), by causing loss of mobility, pain and morbidity. These symptoms are often undermined and given less importance during the regular follow ups. The occurrence of skeletal events is known to be related to dose of radiation, age of the patients, body mass index, menopausal status, baseline bone health of the patient and other comorbidities such as rheumatoid arthritis, corticosteroid use and diabetes mellitus. One of the important modifiable risk factors for radiation induced skeletal injury is the dose of the radiation. With the advent of higher technologies such as Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy, it is now feasible to selectively spare the normal structures and hence reduce the long term and short-term treatment related morbidity. Thus, determining the dose volume relationship between the radiation dose and the degree of osteoporosis, in different bones will help in reducing the dose to these bones below the determined limits using modern technology and hence reducing the long-term skeletal toxicities. Also using opportunistic CECT helps in significantly reducing the costs of evaluation in patients who are being treated for carcinoma of uterine cervix.