[The tragedy of early roentgen pioneers: chronic radiodermatitis].

The discovery of the X-rays in November 1895 confronted medicine with new and undreamed possibilities for diagnosis and therapy. It was welcomed by the professionals with enthusiasm, and soon X-rays were used all around the globe. Gradually, with increasingly powerful equipment, unfavorable side effects were observed. The radiologists themselves were especially concerned, because they were exposed to the rays for hours, and in the beginning without any protection. Their hands were not seldom developing a chronic dermatitis, eventually leading by way of neoplastic transformation to death. Although, as soon as in 1901, the crucial factors of radiation injury and the ways for an effective protection were known, hundreds of the often selfless pioneers of radiology had to die still in the sixties.