Pramila T, Vinay A. V, Sindhu R, Vastrad B. C, Janakiraman P
The cells of the haematopoietic system are highly radiosensitive and the medical radiographers who are exposed to chronic ionizing radiation are more prone to get haematological disorders later in life. A change in haematological profile is a warning sign for development of haematological diseases later. Even though the effect of acute radiation is well known, the effect of chronic low dose radiation on haematopoietic tissue is less known. Hence this study was undertaken to find out the effect of chronic low dose radiation among radiographers, to initiate awareness among them about the radiation effects and the importance of regular screening to prevent the ill effects of radiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted on 20 healthy radiographers and 20 healthy, age and sex matched control group. The subjects were enrolled based on detailed questionnaire and informed consent was taken from all the subjects. The mean age of radiographers was 37.4 years and that of control was 39.4 years. The radiographers were exposed to low dose radiation for more than 5 years and the radiation dose of radiographers who participated in the study were in the range of Annual Average Effective Dose (AAED) of 0.29 – 1.91 mSv. Subjects with anaemia, cardiopulmonary diseases, acute and chronic infections, history of diabetes mellitus, auto immune disease, malignancy, and history of smoking and drug addiction were excluded from the study. Control subjects who were exposed to medical or diagnostic radiation recently were also excluded from the study. The blood cell count was performed on Beckman coulter counter. The haematological parameters measured were RBC count, WBC count, and Platelet count, PCV, MCV, MCH, MCHC, Hb, RDW and DLC. RESULTS WBC count of Radiographers was lower than that of controls and the difference was statistically highly significant (p<0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in the mean values of other haematological parameters. Neutrophil count was significantly decreased in radiographers when compared to control group (p<0.05). The other differential leucocyte parameters were not affected significantly. CONCLUSION Besides the safety measures being in place, the medical radiographers exposed to low dose radiation over a long time, should undergo periodic medical check-up including complete blood count to detect the disease earlier so that preventive measures can be taken.
