A physician's hand tumour induced by the first X-ray procedures
Abstract
A left human hand on display in a jar at the Anatomical Pathology Dupuytren Museum (Paris, France) is presented here as a case of chronic radiation dermatitis hyperplasia from a rheumatologist physician. We do not have any further information about this specimen, except that it comes from an individual who lived between 1895, when X-rays were discovered, and 1924, when the last anatomical specimen was registered at the museum. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845–1923), a German professor of physics, was the first person to produce and detect electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength known as X-rays in 1895. He later realised that a number of objects could be penetrated by these X-rays, including human soft tissues, exposing the bones. By using a photographic plate instead of a screen, he managed to capture the X-ray images, which became immediately useful to doctors. These findings earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.