Ionizing radiation: brain effects and related neuropsychiatric manifestations

Recently, an increasing interest has been directed towards the investigation of brain effects of ionizing radiation (IR), as it is now evident that, depending on the doses, the damages character and severity, as well as clinical man ifestations are different. They are generally considered to be the result of a blending of atherosclerotic, cardiovas cular, cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative processes. Further, an ongoing debate has been opened on the pos sible brain abnormalities following medical radiation from X ray in interventional radiology and nuclear medicine procedures that would involve both patients and medical workers. The aim of the present paper is to summarize literature data on brain effects of IR exposure, with a special focus on those gathered by some of the authors after the Chornobyl nuclear plant disaster, and how they can be related to the pathophysiology of different neuropsy chiatric disorders.Ostannim chasom vse bil'shyy̆ interes spriamovuiet'sia na doslidzhennia efektiv vplyvu ionizuiuchogo vyprominiuvan nia (IV) na golovnyy̆ mozok, urazhennia iakogo ta klinichni proiavy zalezhat' vid radiatsiy̆noï dozy. Tsi efekty vyny kaiut' vnaslidok poiednannia aterosklerozu, sertsevo sudynnykh i tserebrovaskuliarnykh porushen' ta ney̆rodegene ratyvnykh protsesiv. Krim togo, tryvaiut' dyskusiï shchodo mozhlyvogo urazhennia golovnogo mozku pislia medychnogo oprominennia rentgenivs'kym ta inshymy vyprominiuvanniamy pry protsedurakh, shcho zastosovuiut'sia v inter ventsiy̆niy̆ radiologiï ta iaderniy̆ medytsyni, iak u patsiientiv, tak i medychnykh pratsivnykiv. Metoiu tsiieï roboty ie uza gal'nennia literaturnykh danykh stosovno tserebral'nykh efektiv ionizuiuchogo vyprominiuvannia z osoblyvym ak tsentom na doslidzhenniakh naslidkiv Chornobyl's'koï katastrofy i rozgliadom mozhlyvykh patofiziologichnykh me khanizmiv deiakykh nervovo psykhichnykh rozladiv.