Article: Radiation-induced heart disease.

[John Jacobus <crispy_bird@YAHOO.COM>]

I received this through another mailing list and

thought it would be of interest.



http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/465851



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Radiation-Induced Heart Disease

Posted 02/11/2004 

 

J. Willis Hurst, MD, MACP 

 

I believe it is generally known that radiation to the

chest can cause pericarditis, coronary artery disease,

and myocardial disease. It is not generally

appreciated that radiation of the chest may cause

aortic valve disease.



Heidenreich and his colleagues studied 294

asymptomatic patients who had radiation of the

mediastinum for Hodgkin's disease.[1] They found that

a greater percentage of patients who received

radiation 20 years before evaluation had a higher

incidence of aortic regurgitation than those patients

who had received irradiation within 10 years.



The authors urge appropriate screening using

echocardiography to follow such patients.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

J. Willis Hurst, MD, MACP, Active Consultant to the

Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of

Medicine, Candler Professor and Chairman, Department

of Medicine Emeritus 

 

Medscape Cardiology 8(1), 2004. © 2004 Medscape



[1] Heidenreich PA, Hancock SL, Lee BK, Mariscal CS,

Schnittger I. Asymptomatic cardiac disease following

mediastinal irradiation. J Am Coll Cardiol.

2003;42:743-749.





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"The care of human life and happiness . . . is the first and only legitimate object of good government."

Thomas Jefferson



-- John

John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist

e-mail:  crispy_bird@yahoo.com



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