Advance in clinical research of radiation-induced heart disease

Abstract

Radiation-induced heart disease (RIHD) is one of common late side effects derived by thoracic radiotherapy. RIHD is often subclinical and there is an extremely long clinical latent period between radiation therapy and the first clinical presentation of radiation injury, and it did not cause clinical attention for a long time. Until the 1990s, epidemiologic investigations demonstrate that thoracic cancer radiotherapy increased rates of cardiac mortality, RIHD has partly offset the survival benefit provided by adjuvant RT.Radiotherapy techniques has undergone many improvements over the last decades, these improvements decreased both the volume and dose of radiation delivered to the heart, seem to have decreased the incidence of RIHD. Nonetheless, recent studies indicate that the problem of RIHD may persist. For instance, patients with Hodgkin's Disease, lung cancer, and esophageal may still receive either a high dose of radiation to a small part of the heart or a lower dose to the whole heart in radiotherapy. Therefore, long-term cardiac followup of these patients is essential. This article briefly review the clinical presentations, influence factors, prevention and managements, diagnosis and study advances of RIHD. Key words: Heart; Radiation injury; Neoplasms; Radiotherapy