The appearance of radiation-induced lesions after radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease of the mediastinum and lungs

The incidence of radiation-induced lesions of lung tissue adjacent to the mediastinum and covered by radiation was established on the basis of a retrospective analysis of radiograms of 245 patients treated at the Institute of Oncology in Warsaw in the years 1951-1968, who received radiotherapy to the mediastinal lymph nodes. The radiation-induced lesions were divided into 4 grades depending on their extent and intensity of pulmonary tissue damage. Criteria for classification of radiation-induced fibrosis into the above mentioned grades were established. The correlation between radiation-induced injury and the doses of X-rays applied to the mediastinal lymph nodes was analysed. The importance of radiation-induced changes in the mediastinum and lungs for the diagnosis of recurrences in the irradiated fields, in the marginal areas and granulomatous infiltrations in pulmonary tissue is discussed. (author)