Vascular Injury After Whole Thoracic X-Ray Irradiation in the Rat

In a previous investigation using the same model, we observed that recovery from radiation-induced attenuation of pulmonary vascular reactivity occurred. In the present study, we report that deterioration results in several vascular parameters for ≤1 year after 10 Gy, suggesting sustained remodeling of the pulmonary vasculature. Our data support clinically relevant injuries that appear in a time- and dose-related manner after exposure to relatively low radiation doses.