Studying the State of the Autonomic Nervous System and Hemodynamics in the Liquidators of the Accident at the Chernobyl NPP

Purpose: Comparative analysis of changes in the state of the autonomic nervous system and hemodynamics in liquidators of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident and individuals in the comparison group exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation. Material and methods: The study was carried out for 141 liquidators of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident and 84 male comparison group people aged from 30 to 50 years (41.24 ± 0.41) and (40.95 ± 0.54), respectively. Only liquidators could be exposed to ionizing effects. All of them, the dose of ionizing radiation did not exceed 0.5 Gy. All individuals underwent a clinical, neurological and electrophysiological examination in A.I. Burnazyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center. The main attention was paid to studying the state of the autonomic nervous system and hemodynamics in participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Results: Clinical examination made it possible to diagnose neurological disorders in both groups in the form of: vegetative-vascular dystonia, neurocirculatory dystonia, dyscirculatory encephalopathy of various etiologies ‒ with a statistically significant predominance of their quantity and quality among liquidators. The changes observed in liquidators are functional and nonspecific. Conclusions: In the group of liquidators, a significant increase in the number and severity of the considered neurological disorders was revealed. Comparison of the examined groups according to the state of central hemodynamics showed the absence of a statistically significant connection between the state of cerebral blood flow and low-dose irradiation. At the same time, a connection was established between the state of cerebral hemodynamics and systemic autonomic tone and the age of the examined individuals. The combination of permanent and paroxysmal autonomic disorders, psychosomatic disorders can be considered as a manifestation of hypothalamic dysfunction that has developed against the background of vascular disorders in the brain that have arisen with age.