Heart disease after mediastinal radiotherapy.

The greatest risk for most cancer patients is inadequate treatment of their disease. Although mediastinal radiotherapy is a safer procedure than it was 20 years ago, it still may damage the thoracic viscera, including the heart. Cardiovascular problems tend to present subtly years later, when the patient may not recall the prior radiation or may not deem it significant. An awareness of this long latency period and of the wide spectrum of heart disease that may result from radiotherapy is essential for management of these patients.