Current Osteoporosis Reports

, Volume 11, Issue 4, pp 299–304 | Cite as

Effects of Radiation on Bone

Osteoporosis and Cancer (P Taxel, Section Editor)
First Online:

Abstract

Ionizing radiation produces its deleterious biologic effects by both direct (DNA strand breaks) and indirect processes (formation of free oxygen radicals). Mitotically active cells are more susceptible to the detrimental effects of ionizing radiation. These effects are most severe locally within the treatment field but can also occur systemically, possibly reflecting hormonal influences and inflammatory cytokine mediators. Specific bone complications of radiation include osteopenia, growth arrest, fracture and malignancy. Some of these complications, such as osteopenia, are reversible and severity is dose dependent. Insufficiency fractures are a common complication after radiation therapy and generally affect those bones under most physiologic stress and with the highest ratio of trabecular to cortical bone. Familiarity with the radiographic appearance of irradiated bone, including computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), will improve image interpretation and facilitate accurate diagnosis.

Keywords

Ionizing radiation Particle radiation Bone metabolism Hematopoesis Cortical bone Trabecular bone Imaging Radiography Fracture risk 
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Notes

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

R. Patheco declares that he has no conflicts of interest. H. Stock declares that he has no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Diagnostic Imaging and TherapeuticsUniversity of Connecticut Health CenterFarmingtonUSA

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