Abstract
The patient was a 57-year-old man. Twelve years ago, he was subjected to radiotherapy of both the mediastinum and apical segment of his right lung, as well as its extirpation, for the treatment of lung cancer. Subsequently, 7 years ago, he suffered from onset of left cerebral infarction, evolving into the occurrence of various sequelae including right hemiplegia and dysphasia. At this time, he was admitted to our department due to an unconsciousness attack. Upon admission, angiography verified occlusion at the origin of the left common carotid artery, stenosis at the origin of the right common carotid artery, and occlusion at the origin of the right subclavian artery. All of these multi-occlusive vascular lesions were limited to the irradiated segments, and were therefore diagnosed as radiation-induced vasculopathy (RIV). In order to prevent complication with serious cerebral circulation disorders attributable to progress of stenosis of the right common carotid artery, intravascular stenting was performed for the treatment of the above-mentioned stenosis. To our knowledge, there is no previous report documenting RIV in patients with lung cancer; however, the present case suggests that long survivors with lung cancer after radiotherapy should be regarded as a stroke high-risk group, besides being recognized as subjects for whom early detection of signs indicative of stroke and prevention of recurrence are warranted.
