Therapeutic x-irradiation of the mediastinum for thoracic tumors was associated with morphologic alterations in the heart and pericardium, most commonly pericardial fibrosis.
What are the morphologic alterations in the heart and pericardium following therapeutic x-irradiation of the mediastinum?
High-dose radiation to the mediastinum can cause significant morphologic alterations in the heart, most commonly pericardial fibrosis.
Clinical application of cobalt 60 γ-rays and equipment capable of producing megavoltage x-rays and electrons has led to exciting new uses of radiotherapy. Particularly in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease, wide-field, relatively high-dose radiotherapy to involved lymphatic structures offers the only curative treatment for this otherwise uniformly fatal disease.1,2Therapy with such high-energy beams has made it possible to attain large doses of radiation to deep tumors. Now skin damage is no longer the limiting factor in radiotherapy; however, this advance has also opened the door to high-dose radiation of normal tissue and potential complications not previously recognized as important. In a recent issue of theArchives of Pathology, Fajardo and associates describe the morphologic alterations in heart and pericardium of 16 patients in whom cardiac disease developed following courses of therapeutic x-irradiation of the mediastinum for thoracic tumors.3The most common abnormality observed was pericardial fibrosis often
Fajardo et al. (Mon,) conducted a editorial in Radiation-induced heart disease (n=16). Therapeutic x-irradiation of the mediastinum was evaluated on Morphologic alterations in heart and pericardium (pericardial fibrosis). Therapeutic x-irradiation of the mediastinum for thoracic tumors was associated with morphologic alterations in the heart and pericardium, most commonly pericardial fibrosis.