[Ultrasound characteristics of common carotid arteries in Chernobyl clean-up crew members long after the accident].
OBJECTIVE
Detection of early atherosclerosis and some mechanisms of dyscirculatory encephalopathy development late after the Chernobyl accident.


METHODS
57 men (mean age 45.9 +/- 1.18 years) exposed to ionizing radiation after the Chernobyl accident in 1986-1987 (random sample) and 28 healthy men (control) entered the trial. Their examination included ECG, echocardiography, veloergometry (on demand), 24-h monitoring of arterial pressure and Holter monitoring, B-mode ultrasonic scanning in combination with dopplerography and color mapping of blood flow (triplex scanning) of the right and left common carotid arteries on the unit Vingmed CFM (Diasonic Sonotron, Germany) using 7.5 MHz sensor. Blood serum was examined for total cholesterol and triglycerides.


RESULTS
Clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis--ischemic heart disease--were detected in 11 examinees (19.3%). Thickening of the complex intima-media which is thought an early marker of atherosclerosis was identified in 28 examinees (49.1%), stenoses and atherosclerotic plaques--in 17(30%) examinees. Three of them had hemodynamically significant stenoses. Increased blood flow in common carotid arteries combined with enhanced pump function of the left ventricle.


CONCLUSIONS
Atherosclerotic vascular alterations detected in the Chernobyl wreckers were encountered 2 times more frequently than clinical symptoms of atherosclerosis. One of the mechanisms of dyscirculatory encephalopathy in them is high blood volume circulating in common carotid arteries in combination with left ventricular pump hyperfunction.
Liubchenko
P N
PN
Gorenkov
R V
RV
Agal'tsov
M V
MV
Shirokova
E B
EB
D000328:Adult; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011210:Power Plants; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D014455:Ukraine; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional