[Evaluation of late radiation-induced changes in superficial microcirculation after acute beta-irradiation. II. Prognostic importance of cutaneous Doppler laser].

OBJECTIVE

The changes that occur in the tissular microcirculation after accidental acute irradiation account for some of the early effects of such irradiation, especially at the cutaneous level. The prognostic importance of the cutaneous laser doppler was tested in an experimental model of acute beta-irradiation.

METHODS

Ten pigs were given beta-irradiation with a high single localized dose of 90Sr/90Y (32 or 64 Gy, 7 mg/cm2) delivered to the flank, and were evaluated 2, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days thereafter. Each individual was its own control. The local microcirculation was measured in the resting state and during thermal stimulation at 42 degrees C, using a Periflux cutaneous Doppler laser with p413 probes. Three periods of six minutes each were continuously recorded: period 1 (P1) represented basal resting cutaneous perfusion, with the slope p corresponding to the increase in perfusion when two minutes of thermal stimulation at 42 degrees C began; P2 to plateau perfusion during this stimulation; and P3 to perfusion on the return to equilibrium.

RESULTS

After acute beta-irradiation in the pig, all the cutaneous microcirculation parameters measured (P1, p, P2 and P3) had risen at day 2 in the irradiated area by a factor of 2 to 4, depending on the dose (p < 0.001), compared to the adjacent control area. On the other hand, as from day 7, the resting and the stimulated microcirculation varied little, except for a reduction of the slope p by a factor of 2 (p < 0.05) after the strongest radiation dose.

CONCLUSION

After acute irradiation, the increase in the resting cutaneous microcirculation may correspond to immediate but transitory capillary vasodilatation that accompanies the initial erythema in accidental irradiation. The absence of vascular response to thermal stimulation seems to be a good means of reaching an early diagnosis of delayed cutaneous radiation necrosis.