Effect of chronic toluene exposure on heart rhythm parameters

Background Toluene is used extensively in various industrial processes, and an increasing number of workers are getting exposed to its vapor. Cardiac abnormalities that have been reported in association with toluene exposure (in toxic doses) are atrioventricular conduction abnormalities, sinus brady...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pacing and clinical electrophysiology 2018-07, Vol.41 (7), p.783-787
Main Authors: Arslan, Şűkrű, Uzunhasan, Isil, Kocas, Betul Balaban, Cetinkal, Gokhan, Arslan, Şeyma, Kocas, Cuneyt, Abaci, Okay, Yildiz, Mustafa, Celiker, Cengiz, Turkoglu, Cengizhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
arrhythmia
Autonomy
Bradycardia
Cardiomyopathy
Conduction
Dilated cardiomyopathy
EKG
Electrocardiography
Female
Heart rate
Heart Rate - drug effects
heart rate variability
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Myocardial infarction
Occupational exposure
Occupational Exposure - adverse effects
Parasympathetic nervous system
Smoking
Solvents - adverse effects
Tachycardia
Time Factors
Toluene
Toluene - adverse effects
toluene exposure
Vasoconstriction
Ventricle
Young Adult
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Summary:Background Toluene is used extensively in various industrial processes, and an increasing number of workers are getting exposed to its vapor. Cardiac abnormalities that have been reported in association with toluene exposure (in toxic doses) are atrioventricular conduction abnormalities, sinus bradycardia, ventricular tachycardia, recurrent myocardial infarction, dilated cardiomyopathy, and coronary vasospasm. Hypothesis We aimed to investigate the effects of chronic toluene exposure on cardiac rhythm. Methods In this study, 40 workers in the polishing industry with more than 3 months of exposure to a mixture of organic solvents including toluene and 38 control subjects working in other fields who were matched by age, sex, smoking, habits, and living accommodation were investigated. Twelve‐lead surface electrocardiogram and 24‐hour Holter recordings were performed to determine QRS duration, PR duration (P and R wave interval on electrocardiograms), P wave dispersion, corrected QT dispersion, and heart rate variability parameters. Results The maximum heart rate was significantly lower in the toluene‐exposed group compared to the control group (130.5 ± 15.1 vs 138.6 ± 16.0, P = 0.02). Corrected low frequency (cLF) and cLF/corrected high frequency (cHF) were also significantly lower in toluene‐exposed group (43.6 ± 7.2 vs 50.7 ± 10.5, P = 0.01 and 1.4 ± 0.4 vs 2.2 ± 1.0, P 
ISSN:0147-8389
1540-8159
DOI:10.1111/pace.13381