67 licmatological Effects on Heavily Irradiated Japanese Fishermen se to each person differed dehis cabin. HEMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS “I was inferred as about 20 to ity in the thyroid region during 1. ‘ found in the urine samples counts at about the 4th to 8th week after the exposure. 1 =6The radioactivity decrease d on the activity in the urine was rom the fatal case showed that -her, when compared with the AIMURA et al., 1956). Leukocytes The total number of leukocytes decreased gradually, showing minimum Five cases revealed a count of less than 2,000/mm?, 13 less than 3,000, and 5 less than 4,000. In one case, the leukocyte level was depressed to 800. A correlation was found between these minimum counts and the doses of individual external irradiation. Similar reiationship was found between minimum counts of neutrophils and the dose as shown in Figure 2. Sr content in the urine of the the same time the results cf “tence between fishermen and 2500 lay an impotant role in early ' EARLY STAGE ins in the early stage. 2000 = € wr S 1500 3 Fig. 2. Correlation between the estimated doses to the whole body and the minimal number of neutrophils. *e = 1000 >> sts *e 500 ° ry " dose of 1st day : ° . ° 70 130 190 250 310 370 430 490 R dose during 2weeks 160 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 R In most cases a shift to the left of the neutrophils was observed. Staff cells increased in early stage and then gradually decreased. However, in some cases, metamyelocytes and myelocytes appeared in peripheral blood especially with the begin of recovery. In a fatal case who died of liver damage, a considerable number of juvenile neutrophils were observed at the end stage. cases. Lymphopenia was noted between the 2nd and 8th week in all Leukocyte count began to increase after the 8th week. eosinophilia was remarkable, especially with the indication In manycases cf recovery. Eosinophilia continued in somecases for several years without proof of parasites, and onecasestill revealed slight eosinophilia in the 1968 survey. 2. Erythrocytes At the time of hospitalization a few patients were anemic. Noreticulocyte was observed in them at the critical stage. Color index was higher than1.0. The Price-Jones curves of erythrocyte diameter were displaced to the right of normal at first, and returned to almost normalafter one year. These changes corrseponded to changes of erythroblast diameters in bone marrow. 3. Platelets, ete. Platelet counts decreased, reaching a minimum in the 4th to 7th week. Most of the fishermen revealed the values below 100,000/mm?, The results Fig. 1 Symptons and signs in the early stage. of other tests related to hemorrhage showed depression at the critical stage in general and recovered by the 10th week. 4. Comparison with Other Irradiated Cases When these blood changes are compared with the changesof other irradiated