Flashes of light-radiation therapy to the brain

Abstract

We present a series of three patients who received therapeutic external beam radiation to the brain and experienced a phenomenon of the sensation of flashes of bright or blue light, simultaneous with radiation delivery. We relate this benign phenomenon to low-dose exposure to the eye fields and postulate that the occurrence is underreported in this treated population.

Keywords: Brain; Cherenkov; Flash; Light; Radiation; Tumor.