TABLE 10. Location and Year* BNL— June 1965 Marshalls— March 1966 BNL— June 1966 1235 LATE EFFECTS OF RADIOACTIVE IODINE IN FALLOUT Kinetic Analysis of !“I Studies in Subjects with Thyroid Abnormality Case No. ~ 2 Pre-TSH Urinet 1.20 Thyroidf Thyroid Fraction§ 1.71 0.41 Post-TSH 20 Pre-TSH Post-TSH 64 Pre-TSH Post-TSH 3 5 69 (Partial thyroidectomy) 2 (Partial thyroidectomy) 61 (On thyroxine) 54 65 59 (On thyroxine) 42 Pre-TSH 0.80 2.12 1.10 1.88 0.81 0.52 0.86 1.13 1.53 1.26 0.50 1.08 1.65 1.87 1.19 2.30 1.81 1.08 1.56 0.005 0.14 0.15 0.92 0.58 0.69 0.72 0.10 1.29 61 Pre-TSH Post-TSH 33 Pre-TSH Post-TSH 65 Pre-TSH Post-TSH 59 Pre-TSH Post-TSH 0.13 0.50 0.20 0.45 1.83 2.35 3.53 1.29 0.48 1.67 0.97 1.57 0.82 1.14 1.51 3.09 Post-TSH 0.69 1.30 0.60 0.49 0.62 0.36 0.66 0.01 0.14 0.12 0.37 0.31 0.58 0.40 0.06 0.41 Todide Space 33.3 20.0 29.0 20.4 16.9 0.65 0.78 0.77 0.82 0.78 0.31 0.33 0.30 0.71 * BNL = Brookhaven National Laboratory. t Fraction of extrathyroidal iodide excreted in the urine per day (61). } Fraction of extrathyroidal iodide transferred to the thyroid per day (Az). . . Agt § Theoretical thyroid uptake (—*_). 2, 17, 21, and 69) had low thyroxine iodine and elevated blood TSH levels. Therefore, the thyroid remnant had not developed quantitatively normal thyroid function. Three of these subjects (Cases 17, 21, and 69) had their thyroidectomies in 1964 and had not received replacement thyroxine therapy for the first 15 months or longer. Five subjects studied preoperatively (Cases 2, 20, 42, 33, and 65) showed evidence of hypofunctioning thyroid glands or glands that were poorly responsive to excess endogenous or exogenous TSH. In at least two (Cases 2 and 20) there was no response to TSH, so that the glands appeared to be maximally stimulated by endogenous TSH. Analyses of growth data in the Marshallese children are in progress to determine if there is any growth retardation that can be correlated with these findings of thyroid damage. Other subjects, on the other hand, and in particular the adults (Cases 59 and 64), had normal response to TSH or no elevation of blood TSH or both. To summarize the studies on thyroid function, several things of interest have come to light. First of all, people living in the Marshall Islands, whether or not ex- posed to radiation, were found to have certain peculiar and unexplained findings. They have an unusual amount of iodo protein circulating in the blood, which seems to persist even after suppression of thyroid gland function. They also have a somewhat lower rate of radioiodine accumulation in the thyroid gland, compared to North Americans, and perhaps a lowerurinary excretion rate of iodide as well. Radiation damageto the thyroid gland resulted in total destruction of thyroid function in two pigntpesrmetiment Volume 66, No. 6 June 1967