Cardiothoracic Ratio of Nigerians in Gas Flaring Communities

The relationship between exposure to gas flaring and cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) have not been well characterized. The study therefore examines whether or not exposure to gas flaring has impact on cardiothoracic ratio. Digitalized postero-anterior chest radiographs of 200 patients from some selected University Teaching Hospitals and Image Diagnostic Centers in Rivers State and Oyo state of Nigeria between the ages of 19 to 70 years were used for the study.100 of them reside permanently in gas flaring communities of Rivers State while the other 100 reside permanently in non-gas flaring communities of Oyo State. Patients in each group had similar socio-economic status. The cardiac diameter (CD) and thoracic diameter (TD) were measured from the chest radiographs and the cardiothoracic ratio was determined by dividing CD by TD. The average CTR for males and females who reside in gas flaring areas of River State was 0.49 while those who reside in non-gas flaring communities of Oyo State was 0.46 and 0.47 for males and females respectively. The CTR differ significantly between both groups at P=0.000. The findings suggest exposure to gas flaring could lead to increase in cardiothoracic ratio an additional indicator that exposure to gas flaring could cause cardiovascular disease