Skip to main content
Journal of the National Medical Association logoLink to Journal of the National Medical Association
. 2001 Jul-Aug;93(7-8):278–281.

Radiation dose monitoring in a breast cancer patient with a pacemaker: a case report.

J R Nibhanupudy 1, M A de Jesus 1, M Fujita 1, A L Goldson 1
PMCID: PMC2594037  PMID: 11491279

Abstract

A pacemaker-bearing patient with left-sided breast cancer was treated with adjuvant external beam radiation therapy to the intact breast. She was treated via tangential fields and a single anterior supraclavicular field using 6-MV x-rays. The pacemaker, originally in the treatment field, was removed and a new one placed 4 cm outside the radiation field prior to treatment. Silicon diode chamber Keithley-Farmer type 0.6 cc ionization chamber, and lithium fluoride (LiF) (TLD) chips were used to measure, in vivo, the dose to the pacemaker. From all the fields treated, total dose to the pacemaker was 164 cGy by diode measurements, 182 cGy by ionization chamber measurements, and 171 cGy by TLD measurements. The pacemaker functioned normally throughout the course of treatment.

Full text

PDF
280

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brooks C., Mutter M. Pacemaker failure associated with therapeutic radiation. Am J Emerg Med. 1988 Nov;6(6):591–593. doi: 10.1016/0735-6757(88)90097-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Lee R. W., Huang S. K., Mechling E., Bazgan I. Runaway atrioventricular sequential pacemaker after radiation therapy. Am J Med. 1986 Nov;81(5):883–886. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(86)90361-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Lewin A. A., Serago C. F., Schwade J. G., Abitbol A. A., Margolis S. C. Radiation induced failures of complementary metal oxide semiconductor containing pacemakers: a potentially lethal complication. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1984 Oct;10(10):1967–1969. doi: 10.1016/0360-3016(84)90279-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Marbach J. R., Meoz-Mendez R. T., Huffman J. K., Hudgins P. T., Almond P. R. The effects of cardiac pacemakers of ionizing radiation and electromagnetic interference from radiotherapy machines. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1978 Nov-Dec;4(11-12):1055–1058. doi: 10.1016/0360-3016(78)90021-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Muller-Runkel R., Orsolini G., Kalokhe U. P. Monitoring the radiation dose to a multiprogrammable pacemaker during radical radiation therapy: a case report. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 1990 Nov;13(11 Pt 1):1466–1470. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1990.tb04022.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Ngu S. L., O'Meley P., Johnson N., Collins C. Pacemaker function during irradiation: in vivo and in vitro effect. Australas Radiol. 1993 Feb;37(1):105–107. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1673.1993.tb00027.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Souliman S. K., Christie J. Pacemaker failure induced by radiotherapy. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 1994 Mar;17(3 Pt 1):270–273. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1994.tb01387.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Teskey R. J., Whelan I., Akyurekli Y., Eapen L., Green M. S. Therapeutic irradiation over a permanent cardiac pacemaker. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 1991 Feb;14(2 Pt 1):143–145. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1991.tb05080.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Venselaar J. L. The effects of ionizing radiation on eight cardiac pacemakers and the influence of electromagnetic interference from two linear accelerators. Radiother Oncol. 1985 Jan;3(1):81–87. doi: 10.1016/s0167-8140(85)80011-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the National Medical Association are provided here courtesy of National Medical Association

RESOURCES