Follow-up thallium-201 scintigraphy after mantle field radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease.

Purpose: Assessment of the long-term cardiac effects of mediastinal radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease, by Thallium scintigraphy.

Methods And Materials: 32 patients (14 males and 18 females) who underwent mantle field radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease were included in this study. Twenty patients received 4 fractions of 2.5 Gy per week and 12, five fraction of 2 Gy per week, delivered on alternate days. All the patients, except three, performed exercise testing electrocardiogram and Thallium-201 tomoscintigraphy. The average time interval from completion of treatment to the study was 7 years (range 3-13 years). No patients had clinical symptoms of cardiac disease. Mean age at the time of the study was 35 years (range 23-48 years).

Results: Two electrocardiograms revealed left bundle branch block and the patients were excluded from the study. Only one out of 27 exercise electrocardiograms was abnormal in a patient with mitral valve prolapse, who was also excluded from the study. Twenty-six scintigraphies were evaluable. Twenty-two (85%) were clearly abnormal with partial or complete redistribution on delayed images. The anterior region was affected in 19 of these cases (86%). Four explorations were undoubtedly normal. Coronary angiography was not performed for ethical reasons in these asymptomatic patients.

Conclusion: Despite possible false positive tests, the high rate of abnormality (85%) in this small series is striking. These preliminary data justify larger studies and a close long-term follow-up of these patients.