Clinical Outcome of Veterans with Acute Coronary Syndrome Who Had Been Exposed to Agent Orange

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), one of the components of Agent Orange, has been reported to be a deadly poison despite its presence at extremely small doses. TCDD is reported to cause various kinds of cancers and other harmful effects on humans. However, a correlation between exposure to TCDD and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is not yet proven. Thus, we examined the correlation between exposure to TCDD and ACS through an analysis of coronary angiograms from veterans of the Vietnam War. Two hundred fifty-one consecutive men undergoing coronary angiograms owing to ACS between April 2004 and May 2009 at Gwangju Veterans Hospital were analyzed. Included subjects were between 50 and 70 years of age. The patients were divided into two groups: 121 patients who had been exposed to TCDD (Group I) and 130 patients who had not been exposed to TCDD (Group II). Clinical and coronary angiographic findings were evaluated. Baseline clinical characteristics, inflammatory markers, and echocardiographic parameters were not significantly different between the two groups. The incidence of hypertension (71.1% vs. 60.0%, p=0.039) and hyperlipidemia (27.3% vs. 16.9%, p=0.038) was higher in Group I than in Group II. Total occlusion, stent length, stent use, and coronary lesion characteristics were not significantly different between the two groups. The rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) had no relationship with exposure to TCDD. Exposure to TCDD might not affect severity or the rate of MACE in persons with ACS.