INTRODUCTION: The male:female ratio at birth (male births divided by total live births - M/T) has been shown to increase in response to ionizing radiation due to gender-biased fetal loss, with excess female loss. M/T rose sharply in 1987 in central-eastern European countries following the Chernobyl accident in 1986. This study analyses M/T and births for the former Soviet Republics and for the countries most contaminated by the event. METHODS: Annual birth data was obtained from the World Health Organisation. The countries with the highest exposure levels (by 137Cs) were identified from an official publication of the International Atomic Energy Agency. All of the former Soviet states were also analysed and the periods before and after 1986 were compared. RESULTS: Except for the Baltic States, all regions in the former USSR showed a significant rise in M/T from 1986. There were significant rises in M/T in the three most exposed (Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation). The birth deficit in the post-Soviet states for the ten years following Chernobyl was estimated at 2,072,666, of which 1,087,924 are accounted by Belarus and Ukraine alone. DISCUSSION: Chernobyl has resulted in the loss of millions of births, a process that has involved female even more than male fetuses. This is another and oft neglected consequence of widespread population radiation contamination. and V. Grech
Studie TOPCAT byla studií sledující vliv spironolaktonu u chronického srdečního selhání se zachovalou ejekční frakcí levé komory. Studie nezjistila ovlivnění primárního cíle studie, tj. kombinace kardiovaskulární mortality, zvládnuté srdeční zástavy nebo hospitalizace pro léčbu srdečního selhání. Jediným nálezem studie byl pokles hospitalizací pro srdeční selhání. Post-hoc analýza však zjistila nápadný rozdíl mezi pacienty z Amerik (USA, Kanada, Argentina, Brazílie) a pacienty z Ruska/Gruzínska. Rozdíly byly veskrze nápadné. Zatímco u pacientů z Amerik došlo k významnému snížení výskytu primárního cíle, kardiovaskulární mortality a hospitalizace pro srdeční selhání léčbou spironolaktonem, výskyt všech klinických příhod byl výrazně nižší v Rusku/Gruzii, a u pacientů z Ruska/Gruzie nebyl zjistitelný žádný zjistitelný dopad spironolaktonu na jakýkoliv cíl. Tato post-hoc analýza tedy ukázala na možný léčebný účinek spironolaktonu v Amerikách, jakož i v populacích vykazujících obdobné vlastnosti jako populace v Amerikách. Většina prací se spokojuje s definicí opírající se jen o srdeční selhání se zachovalou ejekční frakcí levé komory. Práce upozorňuje na nutnost zpřesnění této definice, která se musí také opírat o změny diastolické funkce levé komory při definici diastolického srdečního selhání., The TOPCAT study followed the effect of spironolactone on a chronic heart failure with a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. The study did not find any impact on the primary goal of the study, i.e. a combination of cardiovascular mortality, managed cardiac arrest or hospitalization rate for heart failure treatment. The only finding of the study was the decrease in hospitalization rates for a heart failure. A post hoc analysis, however, identified a significant difference between patients from the Americas (USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil) on the one hand and those from Russia/Georgia on the other. The differences were rather striking. Whereas the former manifested a significant reduction in the incidence of the primary goal, i.e. cardiovascular mortality and hospitalization with heart failure through treatment with spironolactone, the incidence of all clinical events was considerably lower in Russia/Georgia and no impact of spironolactone at all on any of the goals was identified regarding the patients from Russia/Georgia. This post hoc analysis therefore suggested a possible therapeutic effect of spironolactone in the Americas, as well as in the populations of similar characteristics. Most studies accept a definition only based on the heart failure with a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. The study points to the need to further elaborate this definition which also has to consider changes of the left ventricular diastolic function when defining a diastolic heart failure., and Jiří Widimský Sr