Determination using impedance cardiograph of the chronic effects of different doses of radiotherapy on the cardiovascular system of rats.

Aim: Cardiac damage caused by radiation in the long term varies according to the radiation dose received by the heart. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the damage caused by different radiation doses in the heart, together with hemodynamic parameters, immunhistochemistry, and histopathological analyzes for long term.

Method And Materials: The animals were divided into four groups: The rats in control group (Group 1) were not irradiated; the rats in group 2 were irradiated with 5 Gy; the rats in group 3 were irradiated with 10 Gy and the rats in group 4 were irradiated with 20 Gy. Hemodynamic parameters and indices were determined from the impedance cardiography (ICG) recording in the whole groups before they were irradiated with RT and 180 days after RT. And then, interleukin-1β, interleukin-10, TNF-α, apopthosis were determined in all groups. In addition, histological changes of heart and aorta were evaluated.

Results: Histopathologic, cytokine and hemodynamic findings supported that cardiac damage increased with increasing radiation dose.

Conclusion: it is important in terms of being an alternative and supportive method to other methods to be able to detect heart diseases caused by RT with the ICG method.