Thorotrast-induced haemangioendothelial sarcoma--a lesson from the past

Complications following a carotid arteriogram done in 1947 with Thorotrast are described in a 47-year-old man who subsequently died from them in 1970. They included a local cervical granuloma with associated haemangioendothelial sarcoma, chromosome changes characteristic of radiation damage and widespread haemangioendothelial sarcomatous deposits in brain, lung, liver, probably arising from multicentric primary sites in the bone marrow. A survey of the use of Thorotrast as a contrast medium in Australia and New Zealand showed that its use was extremely limited. The prinicpal complications seen have been two cervical granulomas and one hepatoma.