Radiation Damage to Pacemakers from Radiotherapy

The literature shows that radiation treatment with a high dose of ionizing radiation is becoming an increasing risk for patients with a pacemaker. In our investigation, 23 pacemakers were subjected to a destructive radiation test. of these 23, five proved unable to withstand a dose of 70 Gy. One pacemaker failed at a dose of only 13 Gy. Our results are compared with those reported in other recent publications. Analysis of the data shows that the CMOS electronic device, which is currently used in practically all pacemakers, is responsible for the high sensitivity to ionizing radiation. We conclude that direct irradiation of the pacemaker is contraindicated in all cases.

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