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External and Internal Thorium-X Therapy

Manchester

This excerpt was created in the absence of an abstract.

Thorium-X, a solid substance, or rather its compounds (oxide, nitrate, etc.) can be dissolved in water, alcohol, varnish, etc., and mixed with ointment, incorporated in plasters, or applied with bandages.

In 1912 it was only available in water solutions or in saline. This, however, made external application for skin diseases difficult. I therefore asked the Auer-Gesellschaft to supply an alcoholic solution for the external application on which I reported in 1916 (Nagelschmidt, 1916). The use of normal saline or water for intravenous application or per os was kept up. The propyl-alcohol solution,^* made on my request, dries quickly on the skin. It allows of a certain degree of dosage; on spots where we desire to produce a light effect we may use a single coat; on others, for a more intense effect, we may apply two, three, or more coats (maximum five in severe cases). After drying I used to cover the thorium coats with mastic in order to fix it safely and to dispense with bandaging, especially in the face and hairs. This coating must, however, be done carefully in order not to wipe off the thorium with the mastic (or collodion) stick. I suggested the use of a stick or metal sonde with a little cotton wool at the top, dipped in a thin mastic solution, to wipe off the surplus of solution on the edge of the bottle and to apply the stick flat outside the edge of the thorium-painted area; then roll it gently over the painted surface, without brushing, by twisting the stick between your fingers and repeat until all thorium is covered.