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Neuropsychological Testing in Interventional Cardiology Staff after Long-Term Exposure to Ionizing Radiation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2015

Donatella Marazziti*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, University of Pisa, Italy
Francesco Tomaiuolo
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology Branch, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy, and Auxilium Vitae Volterra, Volterra, Italy
Liliana Dell’Osso
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, University of Pisa, Italy
Virginia Demi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, University of Pisa, Italy
Serena Campana
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, University of Pisa, Italy
Emanuela Piccaluga
Affiliation:
Ospedale “L. Sacco”, Milano, Italy
Giulio Guagliumi
Affiliation:
Ospedale Papa Giovanni XXIII, Cardio-vascular Department, Bergamo, Italy
Ciro Conversano
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, University of Pisa, Italy
Stefano Baroni
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, University of Pisa, Italy
Maria Grazia Andreassi
Affiliation:
Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica, CNR, Pisa, Italy
Eugenio Picano
Affiliation:
Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica, CNR, Pisa, Italy
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Donatella Marazziti, Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Via Roma, 67, 56100 Pisa, Italy. E-mail: dmarazzi@psico.med.unipi.it

Abstract

This study aimed at comparing neuropsychological test scores in 83 cardiologists and nurses (exposed group, EG) working in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, and 83 control participants (non exposed group, nEG), to explore possible cognitive impairments. The neuropsychological assessment was carried out by means of a battery called “Esame Neuropsicologico Breve.” EG participants showed significantly lower scores on the delayed recall, visual short-term memory, and semantic lexical access ability than the nEG ones. No dose response could be detected. EG participants showed lower memory and verbal fluency performances, as compared with nEG. These reduced skills suggest alterations of some left hemisphere structures that are more exposed to IR in interventional cardiology staff. On the basis of these findings, therefore, head protection would be a mandatory good practice to reduce effects of head exposure to ionizing radiation among invasive cardiology personnel (and among other exposed professionals). (JINS, 2015, 21, 670–676)

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2015 

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Footnotes

*

D. Marazziti and F. Tomaiuolo contributed equally to this work.

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