1 research outputs found
Radiation-Induced Cerebro-Ophthalmic Effectsin Humans
: Exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) could affect the human brain and eyes leading to both
cognitive and visual impairments. The aim of this paper was to review and analyze the current
literature, and to comment on the ensuing findings in the light of our personal contributions in this
field. The review was carried out according to the PRISMA guidelines by searching PubMed, Scopus,
Embase, PsycINFO and Google Scholar English papers published from January 2000 to January
2020. The results showed that prenatally or childhood-exposed individuals are a particular target
group with a higher risk for possible radiation effects and neurodegenerative diseases. In adulthood
and medical/interventional radiologists, the most frequent IR-induced ophthalmic effects include
cataracts, glaucoma, optic neuropathy, retinopathy and angiopathy, sometimes associated with
specific neurocognitive deficits. According to available information that eye alterations may induce
or may be associated with brain dysfunctions and vice versa, we propose to label this relationship
“eye-brain axis”, as well as to deepen the diagnosis of eye pathologies as early and easily obtainable
markers of possible low dose IR-induced brain damage