an . oe ee el ee a wa te ee te we oe Bt. FSeee dee pee aS "RA ta oe 22 FR SR ae - ; init ™~ with nodularity and 2 with atrophy of the gland associated with hypothyroidism. Of 19 children exposed at less than 10 years of age (receiving doses of 700-1400 rad to the thyroid), 17 have developed thyroid abnormalities. . Surgical exploration or thyroidectomy, partial to complete, in 18 Rongelap patients has revealed benign adenomatous nodules in 17 cases and malignant lesions in 3 cases. In addition one Utirik woman operated on during the past year had a thyroid malignancy, but the association with radiation exposure in this case seems unlikely in view of the low dose of radiation received by this population. Growth retardation noted in some Rongelap children has been correlated with hypothyroid tendency due to thyroid lesions and some of these children appear to be responding favorably to thyroid hormone treatment. The maintenance of a strict thyroid hormone treatment schedule in the exposed Rongelap people, particularly those who have had thyroid surgery,is extremely important. Some of these people will become ‘hypothyroid if they do not take their treatment properly. We have encountered serious difficulties in maintaining this treatment schedule in the people. We are also concerned about generally unsatisfactory medical care of the exposed Rongelap people during the interval between the surveys. These topics will be the subject of further communication. During the survey thyroid examinations were carried out on several unexposed Marshallese populations (at Rongelap, Utirik, Likiep, and Kwajalein Atolls). Such "street surveys" were made by our proceeding from one end of the village to the other feeling necks and recording - findings. The village magistrates were most helpful and the people good naturedly agreed to the examinations even at Likiep village where we had never been before. These data are being analyzed and will afford valuable statistical information (which is almost entirely lacking) on the general incidence of thyroid diseases in Marshallese people. We will then be in a better position to place the radiation- induced thyroid abnormalities in the Rongelapese in better perspective. During hematological examinations samples of red blood cells were collected on Rongelap people for 55Fe analysis which will be done for us at University of Washington. ae “7 < eea ee Robert A. Conard, M.D. Senior Scientist Brookhaven National Laboratory DOE ARC iIVES 09