12
possible since the team arrived the day after her

death. Principal gross findings included fractures

of the Sth, 6th, and 7th ribs and the first lumbar
vertebra with ecchymoses and internal hemorrhage, atherosclerosis of the heart and aorta,bilateral pulmonary edema, and benign nephrosclerosis. Atrophy of the kidney,liver, and spleen were

noted, Principal findings on microscopic examina-

tion included myocardial fibrosis, aortic athero-

sclerosis, and pulmonary edema. It was believed
that death resulted from trauma and hemorrhage,
possibly from a fall. Details of the autopsy findings
are reported in Appendix 6.*

tHlinesses

Only 4 people, 2 exposed and 2 controls,

required hospitalizauon during the past year. Two
cases of hemorrhoids and an anal fistula required
surgical correction; one case of an acute exfolia-

tive type of dermatitis required hospital treatment.

The health aide reported that during the past year
about 20 people on Rongelap developed a sickness
associated with eating improperly prepared arrowroot flour, The sickness was characterized by sore-

different from that in the unexposed comparison

group. Appendix 5 lists major findings on cuch
adult examined.
Certain abnormalities such as moderate to
severe arteriosclerosis showed a higher incidence
in the exposed group, but these increases were
probably related to the larger percentage of older
people in the exposed group. In the exposed group

20% of the adults were >65 years of age, compared with 7% of the unexposed adults, Taking
this into consideration, it does not appear that the

abnormalities in the two groups are very different,
and no evidence of any increased incidence of
degenerative diseases or other discases is apparent
in the exposed group. In the exposed group several
of the older people (No. 57-F, age 107; No. 46-M,
age 86; No. 55-M, age 82; and No. 28-F, age 75)

showed marked infirmities of old age and presented such findings as arteriosclerotic heart disease, kyphoscoliosis, osteoarthritis, cataracts, and
blindness. These people had to be assisted to the
examination room. Only two cases in the uncxposed group were in this category (No, 862-M,
age 88, and No. 946-M, age 85).

ness of the mouth and throat, anorexia, nausea,

OPHTHALMOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS

to several weeks. Occasional cases of fish poison-

In Table 4 the incidence of various ophtha!lmological findings in the Rongelap people is presented. Pterygia and pingueculac were the most
common, occurring in 43% of the exposed adults
and 36.9% of the control group, but these were
not found in individuals < 20 years of age and were
most common in those >40. All lens opacities
could be classified as senile, presentie, or congenital. There were 14.5% of the exposed adults and
13.6% of the control group that had senile cataracts. Lenticular opacities (including presenile and
congenital) occurred in 22.9% of the exposed
group and 21.7% of the control group; they were
most common tn those >45 years of age. No opac-

vomiting, and diarrhea, and lasted from a few days
ing (numbering about 20) occurred during the
past year. They were characterized by the typical
gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms noted
in the past. Fish poisoning is a ubiquitousillness
in the South Sea Islands. The only other sicknesses
reported were the usual number of cases of upper
respiratory infections, gastroenteritis, and numer-

ous skin conditions.

ADULT EXAMINATIONS
In Table 3 are listed the various physical abnormalities in the adults, except for the ophthalmological findings, which are listed and discussed in the

following section. As noted in previous examinaions, the incidence of various abnormalities in

the exposed group did not appearto be significantly
*The gross autopsy findings are reported by one of us

(L. M.). We are grateful to Drs. Hans Cottier, W. Calvo,

and V. Alcober of BNL for reporting the histological

findings.

ities were noted characteristic of those induced by

radiation exposure.
Corneal pigmentation could be classified into
two groups, congenital and acquired. There were
20.8% of the exposed and 23.9% of the control
group that had congenital corneal pigmentation
not unlike that seen in all dark-skinned races in
any part of the world. Three cases (6.2% ) in the
exposed group had a noncongenital pigmentation,
consisting of a dark linear streak of pigment ex-

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