Radiotherapy-induced Mitral Incompetence

Radiotherapy-induced cardiac disease is a progressive condition with symptoms beginning several years after treatment. The following article reports the case of a 48-year-old woman who had undergone mediastinal radiation therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma at age of 15 and, more than thirty years later, suffered from congestive heart failure due to fibrotic thickening of the mitral valve. She successfully underwent mitral valve repair with patch augmentation of the anterior leaflet. Long-term cardiac follow-up of patients treated by mediastinal radiation therapy is warranted.