Radiation-induced injury of the esophagus

Forty patients with functional or morphologic esophageal abnormalities following radiotherapy were identified. Abnormalities included abnormal motility with and without mucosal edema, stricture, ulceration and pseudodiverticulum, and fistula. Abnormal motility occurred 4 to 12 weeks following radiotherapy alone and as early as 1 week after therapy when concomitant chemotherapy had been given. Strictures developed 4 to 8 months following completion of radiotherapy. Ulceration, pseudodiverticulum, and fistula formation did not develop in a uniform time frame. Radiation-induced esophageal injury is more frequent when radiotherapy and chemotherapy are combined than it is with radiotherapy alone.