Course of radiotherapy treatment: a set of fractions for an individual patient which have been planned and prescribed as a whole, which may consist of:
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a) |
A set of fractions planned and prescribed as a whole and using two different machines. |
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b) |
A set of fractions planned and prescribed as a whole with a period of no treatment during the set (a split course). |
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c) |
A set of fractions planned and prescribed as a whole involving machines located on two or more sites. |
A course may be classified as:
|
a) |
The primary course: the first in which treatment has been given for a particular disease. A patient may have more than one primary course if: Treated by radiotherapy for two or more unrelated diseases Treated for two or more primary lesions of the same disease, e.g. two rodent ulcers. During a course of treatment a further course is started. |
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b) |
A subsequent course: prescribed for lesions that stem from or are secondary to a disease that has already been treated by a radiotherapy machine, sub-divided into those where: The previous course was administered by the same health care provider. The previous course was administered by another health care provider. |
A count of the number of radiotherapy courses administered by the health care provider is obtained by summing the first exposures for all types of course whether or not the previous course was administered by the same health care provider.
Course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatment: a sequence of one or more ECT treatments given until a medical decision to stop the sequence is implemented. The course is considered complete if there is a lapse of 21 clear days between treatments.