title: Focused high risk--population screening for carotid stenosis and retinal microangiopathia after radiotherapy for laryngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Carotid artery stenosis (CAS) is one of the major complications of external irradiation (radiotherapy, RT) for laryngeal carcinoma. Considering amaurosis fugax is often one of the first signs of significant CAS our focus was to determine weather patients with post-irradiation CAS also develop ocular microangiopathy as a result of insufficient ophthalmic circulation. In our study Carotid Duplex ultrasound scans revealed that 33.33% of patients had significant radiation-induced CAS. The majority (over 85.71%) of radiation-induced CAS had more than one atherosclerotic plaque including any degree of stenosis in the RT group, and had significantly more than that of the control group. Microangiopathic changes were documented only with the patients that have had an increased cerebrovascular risk (diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension).
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology Rijeka University Hospital, Rijeka, Croatia. medines4@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Strenja-Linić
authors.forename: Bozo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vojniković
authors.forename: Tea
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Caljkusić-Mance
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tićac
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bonifacić
authors.forename: Damir
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kovacević
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography