Radiation-induced osteoradionecrosis of the ribs in a patient with breast cancer: A case report

Osteoradionecrosis of the chest wall after radiation therapy for breast cancer is rare; however, it is one of the most severe complications of radiation treatment. Radiologically, osteoradionecrosis can manifest as a focal lucent area in bone, periostitis, sclerosis, and cortical irregularity of bones on X-ray or computed tomography; therefore, differentiation from bone metastasis can be challenging. Associated insufficiency fractures, ulceration, and skin necrosis may also occur. We encountered a patient with osteoradionecrosis in the left anterior ribs after radiation therapy for breast cancer. Chest computed tomography revealed cortical irregularity with severe sclerotic changes of the anterior arc of the left fist to the fourth ribs. The patient's skin on the left chest wall exhibited ulceration with purulent discharge. Ultrasonography of the left chest wall revealed diffuse skin thickening with hyperechoic changes in the subcutaneous fat layer of the left chest wall with calcifications. The patient underwent rib resection and chest wall reconstruction. Recognizing characteristic imaging features of osteoradionecrosis is important for radiologists to differentiate it from bone metastasis and plan appropriate treatment.

• Publication year

  2022

• Venue

  Radiology Case Reports

• Publication date

  2022-06-13

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.radcr.2022.01.067PMID 35721524PMCID 9204665
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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