RT Book, Section
A1 Laird, James H.
A1 Roberts, Kenneth B.
A1 Decker, Roy H.
A1 Park, Henry S.
A2 Grippi, Michael A.
A2 Antin-Ozerkis, Danielle E.
A2 Dela Cruz, Charles S.
A2 Kotloff, Robert M.
A2 Kotton, Camille Nelson
A2 Pack, Allan I.
SR Print(0)
ID 1195006118
T1 Radiation Pneumonitis
T2 Fishman’s Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders, 6e
YR 2023
FD 2023
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781260473988
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1195006118
RD 2024/10/11
AB The  discovery  of  x-rays  by  Roentgen  in  1895  and  of  radium  by  the  Curies  in  1898  revolutionized  medicine  at  the  turn  of  the  20th  century.1–3  Roentgen’s  first  paper  on  x-rays  illustrated  the  power  of  diagnostic  imaging  with  a  remarkably  detailed  radiographic  image  of  Frau  Roentgen’s  hand.  As  researchers  around  the  world  built  vacuum  tubes  and  acquired  radioactive  sources  for  their  studies,  it  rapidly  became  apparent  that  these  invisible  radiations  could  produce  dangerous,  and  even  lethal,  injuries.1–3  Erythema,  chronic  dermatitis,  ulceration,  loss  of  hair,  and  eye  injuries  were  soon  reported  in  patients  who  received  large  doses  of  radiation  during  prolonged  fluoroscopy  procedures,  and  further  toxicities  were  observed  in  physicians,  technicians,  and  scientists  exposed  to  unshielded  radiation  sources.  The  development  of  these  radiation  injuries  suggested  that  radiation  might  be  useful  in  the  treatment  of  cancer;  indeed,  patients  with  cancer  were  treated  with  radiation  therapy  as  early  as  1896.1–3  Radiation  was  found  to  inhibit  the  growth  of  tumors,  but  this  benefit  came  with  the  cost  of  injury  to  normal  tissues  within  the  irradiated  areas.  The  relative  sensitivity  of  the  lung  to  injury  from  radiation  became  apparent  early  in  the  development  of  radiation  oncology.  The  clinical  syndromes  of  dyspnea,  cough,  fever,  and  radiographic  infiltrates  occurring  weeks  to  months  after  irradiation  of  the  thorax  were  dramatic  enough  to  be  described  as  early  as  1922.4