What are the incidence, pathogenesis, and management strategies for radiation-induced carotid artery stenosis in patients treated for head and neck malignancies?
This comprehensive review highlights the increased risk of carotid artery stenosis and subsequent cerebrovascular events following radiotherapy for head and neck malignancies, emphasizing the need for appropriate follow-up and management strategies.
In recent decades, with the improvement of radiotherapy (RT) technology and comprehensive treatment, the survival rate of head and neck malignancies has gained remarkable progress. Vascular injury and subsequent carotid stenosis following RT, as the backbone of treatment, have received increasing attention. Many investigations have demonstrated that radiation can result in the increase in carotid intima-media thickness, carotid stenosis and consequently lead to a higher risk of cerebrovascular events such as transient ischemic attack and stroke. In this review, we will examine the incidence of radiation-induced carotid artery stenosis, its morphological and histological characteristics, as well as its pathogenesis. The treatment and prevention methods, including follow-up strategies, will also be discussed at the end of the present review.
Xu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.