[Damage to the heart from tumor irradiation in the thorax--an echocardiographic study]

The authors give a review of 74 patients with radiation-induced heart disease which could be easily detected by echocardiography. In almost all of the patients a pericardial effusion (P.E.), with relative sinus tachycardia was found 3 to 4 weeks after onset of radiation and this was transient in some cases. This phenomenon was interpreted as an early radiation-induced reaction of the heart. 6 to 12 months after radiation, late damage of the heart occurred depending on field and total radiation dose. This manifested as massive P.E. with changes in ECG. Later there was damage to the myocardium caused by coronary sclerosis. The tendency to constrictive pericarditis was manifested not earlier than 3 years or later after radiation. The authors advise follow up of the irradiated patients case by case, checked by echocardiography, especially those who received more than 5000 rad to the heart area and therefore have high risk of late heart damage.