Functional capacity of the cardiovascular system in liquidators of the Chernobyl accident depending on the year they participated in the emergency response and recovery efforts (timed to coincide with 40 years since the accident)

Summary. The purpose of the study is to assess the cardiovascular system in liquidators of the consequences of the accident (LCA) at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant depending on the year they participated in the emergency response and recovery efforts. Materials and methods. A total of 80 LCAs in 1986 (57 people), 1987 (14 people) and 1988 (9 people) were examined. The average age was 70.72 (7.52), 70.00 (8.58) and 67.78 (7.34), respectively. No age differences were found. The functional capabilities of the cardiovascular system (CVS) were evaluated according to generally accepted indicators and indices. The data analysis was performed using MICROSOFT EXCEL 2016 and STATISTICA 10.0 software. Results. We detected a statistically significant decrease in cardiac output (CO) with age in the liquidators who had participated in the emergency efforts in 1986 and 1987 (p<0.001). The systemic vascular resistance (SVR) increased in all the liquidators examined (p<0.001). A statistically significant decrease in the actual blood supply index (ABSI) was found only in groups I and II (p<0.001). The functional change index declined with age in the 1986 (p<0.001), 1987 and 1988 (р=0.007) liquidators. A correlation with the radiation dose was detected in 1986 and 1987 liquidators. In group I, we found a correlation between the radiation dose and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.095), mean arterial pressure (Savitsky's formula) (SavF MAP) (p=0.078), mean arterial pressure (Hickam's formula) (HF MAP) (p=0.074), mean arterial pressure (Semenovich's formula) (SemF MAP) (p=0.063) and minute volume of blood (MVB) (p=0.073); in group II, between the radiation dose and SavF MAP (p=0.058) and the Robinson index (p=0.040). Overweight (BMI and Rohrer's Index) was significant only in the 1986 liquidators: a statistically significant correlation (p<0.05) was found with almost all the indicators analyzed. In group I, we found a direct correlation between SavF MAP and pulse pressure (PP), SemF MAP and PP (p<0.001), SavF MAP and CO, SavF MAP and SVR (p=0.017), and SemF MAP and SVR (p=0.006). Additionally, we found a negative correlation between CO and SVR as well as between cardiac index and both SVR and PR (p<0.001). Conclusion. Only the liquidators who participated in the emergency response efforts in 1986 showed a statistically significant correlation between the factors under study and the functional capacity of the cardiovascular system. The primary cause of lower functional capacity is premature vascular ageing initiated by exposure to radiation. The integral cardiovascular indicators can be used for predicting cardiovascular diseases and for monitoring the health of liquidators of the Chernobyl accident and oncology patients who have undergone radiation treatment, for early diagnosis of radiation-induced coronary heart disease.