Is radiation hard on the heart?

Is radiation hard on the heart?

Unfortunately, radiation therapy can cause cardiotoxicity. In other words, radiation can injury literally every part of the heart. This means that the pericardium, myocardium, heart valves and arteries can all be damaged by radiation therapy.

What happens if radiation hits your heart?

Radiation can injure the pericardium (the tissue covering the heart), myocardium (the heart muscle itself), the heart valves, coronary arteries and the heart’s electrical system. Some of the problems that may develop are: Pericarditis (inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart)

Can radiation cause congestive heart failure?

Heart damage (cardiotoxicity) from chemotherapy or radiation therapy is common. And between 5 percent and 15 percent of cancer patients will develop full-blown heart failure after surviving cancer.

What are the side effects of radiation to the chest?

Radiation therapy aimed at the chest may cause these side effects:

• Difficulty swallowing.
• Shortness of breath.
• Breast or nipple soreness.
• Shoulder stiffness.
• Cough, fever, and fullness of the chest, known as radiation pneumonitis.
• Radiation fibrosis, which causes permanent lung scars from untreated radiation pneumonitis.

Can radiation treatment affect your lungs?

Radiation therapy to the chest may damage your lungs and cause a cough, problems breathing, and shortness of breath. These usually improve after treatment is over, although sometimes they may not go away completely.

How can you protect your heart from radiation?

This is called Deep Inspiration Breath Hold, or DIBH. DIBH will protect your heart during treatment. Then, during treatment, you’ll take and hold a deep breath in the same way as before. When your breast surface is at the right position, the display lights turn green and the SGRT system turns the radiation beam on.

Can radiation cause fluid around the heart?

The heart is sensitive to radiation. One side effect of radiotherapy to the heart is pericardial effusion. This is when fluid builds up around the heart. This can cause breathlessness.

Is shortness of breath a side effect of radiation?

Having radiotherapy to the chest can cause shortness of breath during and after radiotherapy. Shortness of breath will usually improve a few weeks after treatment but for some people it can continue long term.

Is coughing a side effect of radiation treatment?

Coughing and Difficulty Swallowing You may have a cough or difficulty swallowing. You may develop a dry cough. The amount of sputum, or mucus, in your cough may increase as your radiation treatment progresses. Difficulty swallowing is another common side effect of radiation therapy to the chest.

What are the effects of radiation on the heart?

Radiation dose is measured in Grays (Gy), and a heart dose of more than 30 – 35 Gy increases the risk of cardiotoxicity. Radiation can injure the pericardium (the tissue covering the heart), myocardium (the heart muscle itself), the heart valves, coronary arteries and the heart’s electrical system.

Are there any side effects after radiation therapy?

Other side effects may show up months or years after radiation therapy is over. These are called late effects. Whether you might have late effects, and what they might be, depends on the part of your body that was treated, other cancer treatments you’ve had, genetics, and other factors, such as smoking.

Are there any cardiac tests that give you radiation?

Radiation from CT, other cardiac tests can be a problem. Above, a coronary CT angiogram clearly shows calcified plaque. Right, sestamibi scans show reduced blood flow to the heart muscle. Both tests deliver radiation, which can add up to dangerous levels over a lifetime of tests and procedures.

Is there a risk of radiation from a CT scan?

“Below this level, we believe there is no meaningful risk,” says Dr. Manning. Some cardiac imaging tests emit very high doses of radiation (see box). Physicians are particularly concerned about CT scans, since the popularity of these tests has grown exponentially, exposing large numbers of people to significant doses of radiation.