Background—: Orthopedic strain and radiation exposure are recognized risk factors in personnel staff performing fluoroscopically guided cardiovascular procedures. However, the potential occupational health effects are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of health problems among personnel staff working in interventional cardiology/cardiac electrophysiology and correlate them with the length of occupational radiation exposure. Methods and Results—: We used a self-administered questionnaire to collect demographic information, work-related information, lifestyle-confounding factors, all current medications, and health status. A total number of 746 questionnaires were properly filled comprising 466 exposed staff (281 males; 44±9 years) and 280 unexposed subjects (179 males; 43±7years). Exposed personnel included 218 interventional cardiologists and electrophysiologists (168 males; 46±9 years); 191 nurses (76 males; 42±7 years), and 57 technicians (37 males; 40±12 years) working for a median of 10 years (quartiles: 5–24 years). Skin lesions ( P =0.002), orthopedic illness ( P <0.001), cataract ( P =0.003), hypertension ( P =0.02), and hypercholesterolemia ( P 16 years). In highly exposed physicians, adjusted odds ratio ranged from 1.7 for hypertension (95% confidence interval: 1–3; P =0.05), 2.9 for hypercholesterolemia (95% confidence interval: 1–5; P =0.004), 4.5 for cancer (95% confidence interval: 0.9–25; P =0.06), to 9 for cataract (95% confidence interval: 2–41; P =0.004). Conclusions—: Health problems are more frequently observed in workers performing fluoroscopically guided cardiovascular procedures than in unexposed controls, raising the need to spread the culture of safety in the cath laboratory.

Background: The seventh Committee on “Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation” (BEIR VII, 2006) underlines “the need of studies of infants who are exposed to diagnostic radiation because catheters have been placed in their hearts”. Objective: To determine the lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of cancer associated with the estimated cumulative radiological dose in 59 children (42 male, age 2.8±3.2 years) with complex congenital heart disease, and to assess chromosomal DNA damage after cardiac catheterisation procedures. Methods: In all patients, the cumulative exposure was estimated as effective dose in milliSievert (mSv), and LAR cancer was determined from the BEIR VII report. In a subset of 18 patients (13 male, age 5.2±5.7 years) micronucleus as a biomarker of DNA damage and long-term risk predictor of cancer was assayed before and 2 h after catheterisation procedures. Dose–area product (Gy cm²) was assessed as a measure of patient dose. Results: The median life time cumulative effective dose was 7.7 mSv per patient (range 4.6–41.2). Cardiac catheterisation procedures and CT were responsible for 95% of the total effective dose. For a 1-year-old child, the LAR cancer was 1 in 382 (25th to 75th centiles: 1 in 531 to 1 in 187) and 1 in 156 (25th to 75th centiles: 1 in 239 to 1 in 83) for male and female patients, respectively. Median micronucleus values increased significantly after the procedure in comparison with baseline (before 6‰ vs after 9‰, p=0.02). The median dose–area product value was 20 Gy cm² (range 1–277). Conclusion: Children with congenital heart disease are exposed to a significant cumulative dose. Indirect cancer risk estimations and direct DNA data both emphasise the need for strict radiation dose optimisation in children.

Background: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) could be a candidate gene for coronary artery disease (CAD). This study investigated the relationship of the eNOS Glu²⁹⁸→Asp and T⁷⁸⁶→C polymorphisms with the presence and severity of CAD in the Italian population. Methods: We enrolled 415 unrelated individuals who underwent coronary angiography. The severity of CAD was expressed by means of the Duke score. The eNOS Glu²⁹⁸→Asp and T⁷⁸⁶→C variants were analyzed by PCR. Results: There was significant linkage disequilibrium between the two eNOS polymorphisms (P <0.0001). Both variants were significantly associated with the occurrence and severity of CAD (P = 0.01 and 0.004 for Glu²⁹⁸→Asp and T⁷⁸⁶→C, respectively). The risk of CAD was increased among individuals homozygous for the C allele of the T⁷⁸⁶→C polymorphism compared with individuals homozygous for the T allele (odds ratio = 2.5; P <0.01) and was independent of the other common risk factors (P = 0.04). Moreover, individuals with both the Asp/Asp genotype of the Glu²⁹⁸→Asp polymorphism and at least one C allele of the T⁷⁸⁶→C variant in the promoter region of the eNOS gene had an increased risk of CAD (odds ratio = 4.0; P <0.001) and a significantly higher mean Duke score (26.2 ± 2.9 vs 45.2 ± 3.7; P = 0.002) compared with individuals with the TT genotype and the Glu allele. Conclusions: The present study provides evidence that the Glu²⁹⁸→Asp and T⁷⁸⁶→C polymorphisms of the eNOS gene are associated with the presence and severity of angiographically defined CAD in the Italian population and that those individuals carrying both eNOS variants simultaneously might have a higher risk of developing CAD.