Angiosarcoma causing cardiac constriction late after radiation therapy for breast carcinoma

Therapeutic radiotherapy rarely causes sarcoma, and this occurs years after completion of the intended treatment. In treating breast carcinoma, careful planning in the application of modern radiotherapeutic techniques usually can shield the heart and pericardium. We report a rare case of angiosarcoma of the pericardium, which presented in a 41-year-old woman as constrictive pericarditis 8 years after irradiation for cancer of the left breast. To our knowledge, this is only the 2nd report of angiosarcoma of the pericardium after radiotherapy.