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December 1956, Vol. 74, pp. 663-666
Copyright 1956, by American Medical Association
4O 181
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Weta Kidiation Lesion of the Shin
ROBERT A. CONARD, M.D., Upton, Long
Island, N. Y.
and
CARL F. TESSMER, M.D., Washington, D. C.
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During the course of improvement in
design of nuclear devices, several accidents
have occurred involving irradiation of per-
sonnel with radioactive materials resulting
from experimental detonations.
Knowlton
and associates} described burns on the
hands of four persons who were handling
fission-product material. Beta lesions and
epilation in a large number of Marshall
Island people have been described * result-
ing from fall-out contamination following
detonation of a large thermonuclear device
in the Pacific in the spring of 1954. This
‘was the same incident in which 23 Japanese
fishermen on the “Lucky Dragon” were tnvolved.
The lesions in this group were
similar to those in the Marshallese.* There
were also a number of American service
men who received minor skin lesions in
this incident. This report concerns an additional case of an Air Force Officer who
developed a skin lesion which was apparently due to contamination with fission
products following the same detonation.
Report of a Case
This 42-year-old Air Force officer was in charge
of transportation of radioactive samples from the
Pacific proving grounds to the United States. He
had no specific knowledge that he had become
Submitted for publication March 15, 1956.
The opinions or assertions contained herein are
the private ones of the writers and are not to be
construed as official or reflecting the views of the
Navy Department or the naval service at large.
Naval Medical Research Institute, National
Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md. (Dr, Conard) ; Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Army
Medical Center (Dr. Tessmer). Dr. Conard is at
present at the Brookhaven National Laboratory,
* References 2 and 3.
Pg
60495
Reprinted from the A, M. A. Archives of Dermatology
The Sledieal Research Center
Brookhaven National
Laboratory
DUI wh 3
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FELDER
MEDICAL
hairline down to and including the upper right
eyebrow and eyelid. The lesion was hyperesthetic
to touch or washing.
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A dry, scaly desquamation
was observed. The surface at no time was moist
or “weeping.” He also noted an increased tendency of the area to become reddened andirritated
on exposure to sunlight while the surrounding unaffected skin tanned without symptoms. These
symptoms gradually subsided over the next few
months but did not entirely disappear. About
three to four months after he first noticed the
leston, he noted that he was losing hair from his
right eyebrow (in the inner two-thirds), and this
continued over a period of several weeks. Regrowth of hair occurred within a month or two,
but the new hair was white.
Minimal symptoms
of hyperesthesia and sensitivity to sunlight have
persisted.
Examination at this time shows a slightly erythematous, depigmented area about 1 in. wide extending from the hairline on the right side of the
forehead to the right eyebrow (Fig. 1). The right
eyebrow, upper lid, and a small area lateral to the
eye on the malar region show less depigmentation.
The lesion stands out in contrast to the normally
pigmented area surrounding it. The affected area
on the forehead is slightly elevated but not atrophic.
No desquamation is evident at this time. The
lesion
is
hyperesthetic
to
touch.
The
right
eyebrow is white in the inner two-thirds and black
in the outer one-third. The hair of the left eyebrow is black with no white hairs. The white hair
of the right eyebrow is longer than the hair of the
left eyebrow.
Histopathology.—The biopsy material was taken
to include the margin of the lesion and a portion
of adjacent normally pigmented skin. The region
from which the tissue was taken is indicated by
the arrow in the insert, the smaller area of normally pigmented skin extending to the left. This
is taken as a basis of comparison of the two portions of the section.
The entire surface shows a thin keratin layer,
slightly thicker over the nonpigmented portion of
the epithelium. The epithelium otherwise is of
relatively uniform thickness. There appears to be
no variation in the distribution of cells or ceil
RECORDS
COLLECTION (IA RS HALL
BOX No
Upton, L. L, New York
re
REPOSITORY
contaminated at any time, but remembers an accident involving spillage of radioactive samples in
the aircraft. Several weeks later he experienced
a tingling, itching sensation on the right side of
his forehead and noted a pink, slightly depigmented
area about an inch in width extending from the
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PYUBLILATIONS
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