Radiation-Induced Cardiac Disease: Dilemma of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement vs Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement and Pericardiectomy.

BACKGROUND

Radiation-induced cardiovascular disease, a complication of mediastinal radiation, often results in valvular and pericardial disease. Management is challenging, especially in high-risk patients.

CASE SUMMARY: A 59-year-old man with a history of total body radiation presented with fatigue and dyspnea. Multimodality imaging, including echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance, and invasive hemodynamic assessment, confirmed severe aortic stenosis and mild constrictive physiology. Because of an elevated surgical risk and minimum contribution of constrictive physiology to symptoms, the multidisciplinary team opted for transcatheter aortic valve replacement over surgical aortic valve replacement with pericardiectomy.

DISCUSSION: This case underscores the complexities of radiation-induced cardiac disease management, emphasizing the role of multimodality imaging in treatment planning. It highlights transcatheter aortic valve replacement as a viable option for high-risk patients with aortic stenosis in this population.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE: Multimodality imaging is essential for the management of radiation-induced cardiac disease.