Radionecrosis induced by cardiac imaging procedures: a case study of a 66-year-old diabetic male with several comorbidities.

Radionecrosis is a rare sequitur of cardiac catheterization and imaging procedures. A 66-year-old diabetic male with several comorbidities developed a scapular burn immediately after the last of 3 cardiac catheterization and stenting procedures conducted over a 3-year period. The burn subsequently developed into a large eschar that required extensive debridement, a prolonged treatment of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and plastic surgery to heal. Wound healing was compromised by the patient's diabetes and a potentially long course of steroids prescribed for other medical problems. Primary clinicians should be aware of suspicious-looking wounds that develop subsequent to cardiac catheterizations, especially in diabetic patients.