Radiation dermatitis is a skin disease associated with prolonged exposure

Radiation exposure

The term radiation exposure commonly has several uses:* Absorption of high-energy ionizing radiation by an object. In living beings a high absorbed dose can lead to radiation poisoning.* Absorption by an object of non-ionizing radiation...

 to ionizing radiation

Ionizing radiation

Ionizing radiation is radiation composed of particles that individually have sufficient energy to remove an electron from an atom or molecule. This ionization produces free radicals, which are atoms or molecules containing unpaired electrons...

. Radiation dermatitis occurs to some degree in most patients receiving radiation therapy

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy , radiation oncology, or radiotherapy , sometimes abbreviated to XRT or DXT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells.Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control...

, with or without chemotherapy.

There are three specific types of radiodermatitis: acute radiodermatitis

Acute radiodermatitis

Acute radiodermatitis occurs when an "erythema dose" of ionizing radiation is given to the skin, after which visible erythema appears up to 24hrs after. Radiation dermatitis generally manifests within a few weeks after the start of radiotherapy. Acute radiodermatitis, while presenting as red...

, chronic radiodermatitis

Chronic radiodermatitis

Chronic radiodermatitis occurs with chronic exposure to "sub-erythema" doses of ionizing radiation over a prolonged period, producing varying degrees of damage to the skin and its underlying parts after a variable latent period of several months to several decades...

, and eosinophilic, polymorphic, and pruritic eruption associated with radiotherapy

Eosinophilic, polymorphic, and pruritic eruption associated with radiotherapy

Eosinophilic, polymorphic, and pruritic eruption associated with radiotherapy is a skin condition that occurs most often in women receiving cobalt radiotherapy for internal cancer....

. Radiation therapy can also cause radiation cancer

Radiation cancer

Radiation cancer may occur following ionizing radiation exposure following a latent period averaging 20 to 40 years. Various malignancies may develop, most frequency basal-cell carcinoma followed by squamous-cell carcinoma. Elevated risk is confined to the site of radiation exposure...

.

With interventional fluoroscopy, because of the high skin dose

Absorbed dose

Absorbed dose is a measure of the energy deposited in a medium by ionizing radiation per unit mass...

s that can be generated in the course of the intervention, some procedures have resulted in early (less than two months after exposure) and/or late (two months or more after exposure) skin reactions, including necrosis in some cases.

Radiation dermatitis, in the form of intense erythema

Erythema

Erythema is redness of the skin, caused by hyperemia of the capillaries in the lower layers of the skin. It occurs with any skin injury, infection, or inflammation...

 and vesiculation

Blister

A blister is a small pocket of fluid within the upper layers of the skin, typically caused by forceful rubbing , burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled with a clear fluid called serum or plasma...

 of the skin, may be observed in radiation ports.

As many as 95% of patients treated with radiation therapy for cancer will experience a skin reaction. Some reactions are immediate, while others may be later (e.g., months after treatment).

See also

• Radiation recall reaction
  Radiation recall reaction
  Radiation recall reactions occur months to years after radiation treatment, a reaction that follows recent administration of a chemotherapeutic agent and occurs with the prior radiation port, characterized by features of radiation dermatitis...
  
  
• Skin lesion
• List of cutaneous conditions
• Acute radiation syndrome