CHRONIC PROFESSIONAL RADIATION INJURY. A CASE REPORT

A 75-year-old male physician engaged in radiology for 43 years had a history of amputation of his right middle finger, left ring flnger, and right foot due to roentgen ulcers. One year before death his blood picture showed severe anemia, thrombecytopenia, and moderate leckopenia. At autopsy, the skin and the nails of the fingers and the feet were atrophic and showed roentgen ulcers. Microscopically malignant changes were not seen. The thyroid and adrenal glands showed pronounced changes due to irradiation, such as atrophy of follicles, hyperplasia of connective tissue, and struma nodosa parenchymatosa with a typical hyperplasia of its epithellal cells in the thyroid gland, atrophy of glomernlar zone, hypertrophy of extermal fascicular zone, over-growth of juxtamedullary zone, and hyperplasla of medullary cells in the adrenal glands. Though the patient died from uremia resulting from prostate hypertrophy, it could not be denied that the cause was various changes of tissues due to irradiation. (Abstr. Japan Med., 1: No. 8, 1961)