# Late effect

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_effect
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{{Short description|Medical condition after the acute phase of an earlier, causal condition}}
In [medicine](/source/medicine), a '''late effect''' is a condition that appears after the [acute phase](/source/acute_phase) of an earlier, causal condition has run its course. A late effect can be caused directly by the earlier condition, or by the treatment for the earlier condition. Some late effects can occur decades later. Historically, late effects have been very difficult to connect with their causes, but as survival and life span have increased and "follow up" has become standard practice, these connections are becoming established. A period, often very long, of health unaffected by both the initial and the late effect conditions distinguishes a late effect from a [sequela](/source/sequela) or a [complication](/source/complication_(medical)). A code for such a condition was present in the [ICD-9](/source/ICD-9) but is no longer present in the [ICD-10](/source/ICD-10).{{cn|date=May 2023}}

==Examples==
* [Chickenpox](/source/Chickenpox) may be followed decades later by [herpes zoster](/source/herpes_zoster):  see [herpes zoster](/source/herpes_zoster).{{cn|date=May 2023}}
* [Chemotherapy](/source/Chemotherapy), [radiation therapy](/source/radiation_therapy) and [surgery](/source/surgery) to cure a [cancer](/source/cancer) may result years later in another, unrelated cancer and/or infertility or subfertility: see [oncofertility](/source/oncofertility).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cancer.net/patient/Survivorship/Late+Effects|title=Late Effects|publisher=American Society of Clinical Oncology|date=2010-10-14|accessdate =2011-05-15}}</ref>
* Female survivors of [childhood](/source/childhood) [leukemia](/source/leukemia) treated with cranial [radiation therapy](/source/radiation_therapy) may be unable to [breastfeed](/source/breastfeeding) because they do not [lactate](/source/lactation).<ref name="pmid17763465">{{cite journal
|vauthors=Johnston K, Vowels M, Carroll S, Neville K, Cohn R | title = Failure to lactate: A possible late effect of cranial radiation.
| journal = Pediatr Blood Cancer
| volume = 50
| issue = 3
| pages = 721–722
| year = 2007
| pmid = 17763465
| doi = 10.1002/pbc.21291 
| s2cid = 26245508
}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Adverse effect](/source/Adverse_effect)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060117111954/http://www.acor.org/ped-onc/survivors/cardio.html Late effects of the heart]
* [http://www.eicd.com/Guidelines/General.htm General inpatient coding guidelines]

Category:Epidemiology

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Late effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_effect) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_effect?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.