Dropped head syndrome (DHS) is a famous but unusual late complication of multimodality treatment for head and neck carcinoma. We reported this early-onset complication and analyzed the dose to the neck extensor muscles. We examined the records of three patients with DHS after radiotherapy. The doses to the neck extensor muscles were compared between three patients with DHS and nine patients without DHS. The mean dose to the neck extensor muscles of the three patients with DHS were 58.5 Gy, 42.3 Gy and 60.9 Gy, while the dose was <50 Gy in all nine patients in the control group. The onset of this syndrome was 5 months, 6 months and 15 months. The early-onset DHS may have something to do with dose to the neck extensor muscles. The proposed dose to the neck extensor muscles might be <46 Gy (or at least <50 Gy).
Keywords: chemoradiotherapy; dose constraints to the neck extensor muscles; early-onset dropped head syndrome; radiotherapy; unusual complication.
© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japan Radiation Research Society and Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology.