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Radiotherapy Induced Changes in Spine and Spinal Contents

  • Chapter
Imaging of Complications and Toxicity following Tumor Therapy

Part of the book series: Medical Radiology ((Med Radiol Diagn Imaging))

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Abstract

Radiotherapy is a well-established therapeutic modality in oncology that results in survival benefits in several different cancer types, including breast, prostate, rectum, brain, lung, and head and neck cancers. It is generally used to control or eliminate malignant cells as a definitive treatment or a part of adjuvant therapy and to prevent tumor recurrence after surgery. It may also be used as palliative treatment for local disease control or symptomatic pain relief.

Side effects from radiation are usually limited to the area confined to the treatment field, and most of them are predictable and expected. The main effects on the bone include bone marrow fatty conversion, disruption of normal growth and bone maturation, scoliosis, osteonecrosis, insufficiency fractures, and secondary neoplasm formation. To evaluate radiation-induced effects on the bone marrow, it is essential to understand the normal composition and distribution of bone marrow and the normal age-related pattern of bone marrow maturation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the only imaging technique that allows direct visualization of bone marrow with high spatial resolution.

In this chapter, the bone marrow composition and distribution will be covered, routine MRI sequences for bone marrow evaluation will be explained, and the radiation-induced changes and radiation-induced complications will be discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neuroradiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Joana Ramalho MD & Mauricio Castillo MD, FACR

Authors
  1. Joana Ramalho MD
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  2. Mauricio Castillo MD, FACR
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joana Ramalho MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Radiology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Hans-Ulrich Kauczor

  2. Institute of Radiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany

    Tobias Bäuerle

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© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Ramalho, J., Castillo, M. (2014). Radiotherapy Induced Changes in Spine and Spinal Contents. In: Kauczor, HU., Bäuerle, T. (eds) Imaging of Complications and Toxicity following Tumor Therapy. Medical Radiology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2014_1039

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2014_1039

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-12840-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-12841-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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