Firsts in Precision Radiology

I would like to correct an error that occurred in the feature “Precision Radiology” by Sy Montgomery on Dec. 10.

Contrary to publicity from Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh, the first clinical use of a Gamma Knife unit in the United States was at UCLA. I installed the unit in 1980 and it was in clinical and experimental use for a number of years. It was in fact the original Leksell unit mentioned in the article.

At UCLA, rather than the Gamma Knife, we use a “second-generation” accelerator system that is 10 times as accurate in its delivery of radiation than any of the older systems. There are only six operating in the United States and none west of the Mississippi.

F. EUGENE HOLLY, Ph.D., Professor and director, Clinical Physics, UCLA