Abstract
Between 2009 and 2013, a large cross-sectional study on the health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear accident was performed in the contaminated and uncontaminated territories of the Bryansk Oblast (Russian Federation). The objective of this work was to confirm or refute a possible association between childhood cardiac arrhythmia and a chronic exposure to caesium-137. As part of this study, a large number of electrocardiographic and cardiac ultrasound parameters were collected from 18,152 children aged 2–18 years including 12,512 healthy ones not contaminated with caesium-137. It seemed therefore relevant for us to share in a second publication these medical data based on healthy and uncontaminated children with the scientific community because of the large quantities and the limited availability of such kind of data. In the present study, relating to electrocardiographic parameters, the measurements performed fully reflect the expected evolution of the paediatric electrocardiogram between 5 and 18 years of age. Thus, the median values were generally quite close to those available in the literature. In contrast, differences in the 2nd and 98th percentiles were notable and could be explained in particular by the type of equipment used, the number of subjects included in the study and racial disparities. As for echocardiographic parameters, the evolution of the measured values in age groups is consistent with what was expected considering factors such as growth. In comparison with other scientific studies that have investigated these echocardiographic parameters, some differences by age groups have been identified. The ethnic factor truly appears to be a relevant feature to consider. In view of the results, it appeared essential to the authors to approach the methodological conditions of the scientific studies already published on the topic to be truly comparable and thus to provide a reliable answer on a topic for which real expectations in terms of medical care are required.
Highlights
Between 2009 and 2013, a large cross-sectional study on the health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear accident was performed in the contaminated and uncontaminated territories of the Bryansk Oblast (Russian Federation)
In light of this context, the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) has decided to implement a large-scale crosssectional population-based study to explore the possible association between cardiac arrhythmias, a pathology observed on the rise in contaminated territories, and caesium-137, a radionuclide found mostly in the radioactive plume and which is still considered as the reference radionuclide to assess the ground contamination[1,2]
To investigate the reference values for ECG and echocardiographic parameters, the analysis was limited to 12,512 healthy children
Summary
Between 2009 and 2013, a large cross-sectional study on the health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear accident was performed in the contaminated and uncontaminated territories of the Bryansk Oblast (Russian Federation). As part of this study, a large number of electrocardiographic and cardiac ultrasound parameters were collected from 18,152 children aged 2–18 years including 12,512 healthy ones not contaminated with caesium-137. In the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, many questions have arisen and remain relating to non-cancer effects resulting from chronic exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation In light of this context, the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) has decided to implement a large-scale crosssectional population-based study to explore the possible association between cardiac arrhythmias, a pathology observed on the rise in contaminated territories, and caesium-137, a radionuclide found mostly in the radioactive plume and which is still considered as the reference radionuclide to assess the ground contamination[1,2]. Throughout our study, given the numerous medical data collected, the present article aims to compare our results with those already published for encouraging the debate on the topic of the reference values of electrographic and cardiac ultrasound parameters and to support or not the conclusions drawn from studies previously conducted
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