Radiation induced cutaneous ulcer on the back in a patient with congenital anomaly of the upper cava system

Abstract

Recent years have seen the introduction of a number of additive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in invasive cardiology. Cardiac catheterization procedures using fluoroscopy reduce patient morbidity and mortality compared to conventional surgical interventions. The associated radiation exposure for the patient is, however, often underestimated, while implantation of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and/or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) pacemaker systems sometimes entails even higher radiation exposures due to prolonged fluoroscopic studies. Radiation induced skin injuries including ulceration are mainly dose dependent effects of ionizing radiation and can be acute, subacute or chronic. The time between radiation exposure and manifestation of skin injuries varies greatly, from a few days up to months or even years. We report a 54-year-old male patient who presented to the Department of Dermatology in the year 2006, with erythema in the interscapular area associated with occasional pruritus. His medical report included several diagnostic cardiac catheterization procedures. Several attempts to implant CRT and ICD had failed owing to an undetected congenital anomaly of the upper vena cava system; these attempts had entailed prolonged fluoroscopy. The patient's history, clinical presentation and histopathological findings finally led to the diagnosis of radiation induced cutaneous ulcer.