Bilateral phrenic nerve dysfunction: a late complication of mantle radiation

J Neurooncol. 2011 Jun;103(2):393-5. doi: 10.1007/s11060-010-0396-1. Epub 2010 Sep 14.

Abstract

Neurologic complications from radiotherapy can be immediate or can occur many years after treatment. A known complication of radiotherapy to the supraclavicular and axillary lymph nodes is brachial plexus neuropathy. Although not a common injury, phrenic nerve dysfunction has been reported in association with radiation-induced brachial neuropathy. We describe a patient who developed asymmetric diaphragmatic weakness secondary to phrenic nerve paralysis 37 years after receiving mantle radiation for Hodgkin lymphoma. The patient did not have an associated brachial plexus neuropathy or a secondary malignancy involving the phrenic nerves. A radiation-induced injury was the most likely cause.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age of Onset
  • Breast Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / surgery
  • Carcinoma in Situ / surgery
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / surgery
  • Female
  • Hodgkin Disease / radiotherapy*
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / surgery
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary / radiotherapy
  • Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / etiology*
  • Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / physiopathology
  • Phrenic Nerve / physiopathology
  • Phrenic Nerve / radiation effects*
  • Radiation Injuries / complications*
  • Radiation Injuries / physiopathology
  • Radiotherapy / adverse effects*