Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22728254›Full record

SynthesisEnvironmental health perspectives2012

Systematic review and meta-analysis of circulatory disease from exposure to low-level ionizing radiation and estimates of potential population mortality risks.

Mark P Little, Tamara V Azizova, Dimitry Bazyka, Simon D Bouffler, Elisabeth Cardis, Sergey Chekin, Vadim V Chumak, Francis A Cucinotta, Florent de Vathaire, Per Hall and 17 more

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Environmental health perspectives, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 167 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
167citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

167 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Systematic review and meta-analysis of residential radon and lung cancer in never-smokers.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2021
    Pooled it
  6. Meta-analysis of published excess relative risk estimates.Radiation and environmental biophysics · 2020
    Pooled it
  7. Radiation and circulatory disease.Mutation research. Reviews in mutation research
    Pooled it
  8. Low-Dose Radiation Therapy for Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Randomized Double-Blind Study.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2021
    Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Occupational radiation exposure and cause-specific mortality in a cohort of Canadian medical workers.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2026
    Article
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  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article

107 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

27 authors.

Mark P LittleRadiation Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, Maryland 20852-7238, USA. mark.little@nih.gov
Tamara V Azizova
Dimitry Bazyka
Simon D Bouffler
Elisabeth Cardis
Sergey Chekin
Vadim V Chumak
Francis A Cucinotta
Florent de Vathaire
Per Hall
John D Harrison
Guido Hildebrandt
Victor Ivanov
Valeriy V Kashcheev
Sergiy V Klymenko
Michaela Kreuzer
Olivier Laurent
Kotaro Ozasa
Thierry Schneider
Soile Tapio
Andrew M Taylor
Ioanna Tzoulaki
Wendy L Vandoolaeghe
Richard Wakeford
Lydia B Zablotska
Wei Zhang
Steven E Lipshultz

Funding

Intramural NIH HHS
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough high doses of ionizing radiation have long been linked to circulatory disease, evidence for an association at lower exposures remains controversial. However, recent analyses suggest excess relative risks at occupational exposure levels.

objectivesWe performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize information on circulatory disease risks associated with moderate- and low-level whole-body ionizing radiation exposures.

methodsWe conducted PubMed/ISI Thomson searches of peer-reviewed papers published since 1990 using the terms "radiation" AND "heart" AND "disease," OR "radiation" AND "stroke," OR "radiation" AND "circulatory" AND "disease." Radiation exposures had to be whole-body, with a cumulative mean dose of < 0.5 Sv, or at a low dose rate (< 10 mSv/day). We estimated population risks of circulatory disease from low-level radiation exposure using excess relative risk estimates from this meta-analysis and current mortality rates for nine major developed countries.

resultsEstimated excess population risks for all circulatory diseases combined ranged from 2.5%/Sv [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.8, 4.2] for France to 8.5%/Sv (95% CI: 4.0, 13.0) for Russia.

conclusionsOur review supports an association between circulatory disease mortality and low and moderate doses of ionizing radiation. Our analysis was limited by heterogeneity among studies (particularly for noncardiac end points), the possibility of uncontrolled confounding in some occupational groups by lifestyle factors, and higher dose groups (> 0.5 Sv) generally driving the observed trends. If confirmed, our findings suggest that overall radiation-related mortality is about twice that currently estimated based on estimates for cancer end points alone (which range from 4.2% to 5.6%/Sv for these populations).

Indexed as

Dose-Response Relationship, RadiationEnvironmental ExposureRadiation, IonizingCardiovascular DiseasesHumansOccupational ExposureRadiation InjuriesRadiation Monitoring

Identifiers

PMID22728254
PMCPMC3556625

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC0
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.