Vascular effects of occupational exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation

✍ Scribed by Francesco Tomei; Bruno Papaleo; Sergio Fantini; Sergio Iavicoli; Tiziana Paola Baccolo; Maria Valeria Rosati

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 694 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0271-3586
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199607)30:1<72::aid-ajim12>3.0.co;2-5

✦ Synopsis

Damage to the microcirculation caused by high-dose ionizing radiation is well known but data concerning low-dose exposure are scant and contrasting. We employed capillary microscopy to study dermal microcirculation damage resulting from occupational exposure to ionizing radiation doses lower than 5 redyear (maximum permissible dose in Italy). We studied 145 physicians (60.7% radiologists, 33.8% orthopedic specialists, 5.5% cardiologists) occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation and a control group of 106 subjects in comparable but different occupations not exposed to ionizing radiation or to other skin hazards. All subjects were administered a clinical protocol and underwent capillary microscopy of the fingernail fold. Capillary microscopy alterations were classified as absent, mild, moderate, marked and severe. Our data confirm that occupational exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation can lead to morphological and functional alterations of the dermal microcirculation, which can be ident@ed early by capillary microscopy.