Postradiation lung fibrosis

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Pulmonary fibrosis represents the final stage of postradiation lung changes.

  • After irradiation of lung tissue with ionizing radiation at doses> 8 Gy in 30 weeks.
  • Necrotic changes caused by ionizing radiation healed by a fibrotic scar.
  • Clinical manifestations: dry cough, worsening dyspnea (restriction disorder with ↓ diffusion)
  • Diff. dg: radiation pneumonitis (exudative alveolitis from pneumocyte + endothelial damage)
  • Therapy: in small infiltrates, no treatment is necessary, in symptomatic individuals corticoids
  • Risk factors: professional injury (radiologist, miner), poorly targeted radiotherapy[1]


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Citations[edit | edit source]

  1. CHILD, P., et al. Internal Medicine. 2nd edition. Prague: Galén, 2007.  ISBN 978-80-7262-496-6 .