Risk of developing cardiovascular diseases on radiation exposure to thoracic region: a review

Abstract

Radiotherapy is widely used in the treatment of carcinoma and tumors. Exposure to radiation in itself isn’t necessarily detrimental to the patient undertaking it but here one important point of consideration is for how long and to what extent, the kind of radiation the patient is exposed to and in which part of the body. Considering all aspects and necessities of radiation therapy, extreme caution should be taken by the professionals administering it especially in the thoracic region because a subtle indifference can boost up chances of developing cardiovascular diseases which may or may not be lethal which again depends on the degree of exposure to radiation. In this review paper, the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases on radiation exposure to thoracic region has been discussed.