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Concurrent Heavy Metal Exposures and Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Case-Control Study From the Katanga Mining Area of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Malamba-Lez, D.; Tshala-Katumbay, D.; Bito, V.; Rigo, J.-M.; Kyandabike, R.K.; Yolola, E.N.; Katchunga, P.; Koba-Bora, B.; Ngoy-Nkulu, D. Concurrent Heavy Metal Exposures and Idiopathic Dilated |Cardiomyopathy: A Case-Control Study from the Katanga Mining Area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2021, 18, 4956.
Malamba-Lez, D.; Tshala-Katumbay, D.; Bito, V.; Rigo, J.-M.; Kyandabike, R.K.; Yolola, E.N.; Katchunga, P.; Koba-Bora, B.; Ngoy-Nkulu, D. Concurrent Heavy Metal Exposures and Idiopathic Dilated |Cardiomyopathy: A Case-Control Study from the Katanga Mining Area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 4956.
Malamba-Lez, D.; Tshala-Katumbay, D.; Bito, V.; Rigo, J.-M.; Kyandabike, R.K.; Yolola, E.N.; Katchunga, P.; Koba-Bora, B.; Ngoy-Nkulu, D. Concurrent Heavy Metal Exposures and Idiopathic Dilated |Cardiomyopathy: A Case-Control Study from the Katanga Mining Area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2021, 18, 4956.
Malamba-Lez, D.; Tshala-Katumbay, D.; Bito, V.; Rigo, J.-M.; Kyandabike, R.K.; Yolola, E.N.; Katchunga, P.; Koba-Bora, B.; Ngoy-Nkulu, D. Concurrent Heavy Metal Exposures and Idiopathic Dilated |Cardiomyopathy: A Case-Control Study from the Katanga Mining Area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 4956.
Abstract
Blood and/or urine levels of 27 heavy metals were determined by ICPMS in 41 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and 29 presumably healthy subjects from the Katanga Copperbelt (KC), in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After adjusting for age, gender, education level, and renal function, DCM probability was almost maximal for blood concentrations above 0.75 and 150 µg/dl for arsenic and copper, respectively. Urinary concentrations above 1 for chromium, 20 for copper, 600 for zinc, 30 for selenium, 2 for cadmium, 0.2 for antimony, 0.5 for thallium and 0.05 for uranium, all in μg/g of creatinine, were also associated with increased DCM probability. Concurrent and multiple exposures to heavy metals, well beyond permissible levels, are associated with increased probability for DCM. Study findings warrant screening for metal toxicity in case of DCM and prompt public health measures to reduce exposures in the KC, DRC.
Keywords
environmental exposures; heavy metals; idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy; Katanga Copperbelt
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Immunology and Allergy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.