19
urements were determined in children. Comparisons have been made between the numbers examined each year. Excluding those who were shifted
into the adult study, che total over-all attrition
rate between 1958 and 1959 was 10%. Of the 18
children not seen in 1958 but examined in 1959,
14 were babies born tn the interval between the
lwo examinations.
The age distribution of children examined in
1959 wasas follows:
Age, yr
<4
4+to9
210
Total
19
15
34
26
9
?
20
B2
15
60
Exposed
Nonexposed with
exposed parents
Nonexposed. Rongelap
Nonexposed, Mayuro
Utirik
20
30
3
,
26
6
?
The occurrence of various medical conditions 1s
summarized in Table 6. There seemed to be no
concentration of clinical abnormalities tn the exposed groups. Since the incidence of manyofthese
conditions could have been related to the ages of
Hypoplasia of the middie phalanx has beenreported as occurring in the normal populationin
incidences ranging from 0.5% to 5.2%. The anomaly was found to have considerably greaterfrequency (25%) in Japanese children.“ The over-all
incidence in the Marshallese children was 0.77%.
Pediatric dispensary work was carried out preceding and following the regular examinations.In
all, 36 children were treated. The presenting complaints are shown in Table 9.
Table 7
Incidence of Chronic Lnpetigo (-Acuve)
Age, yr
<4
Ex posed
Nonexposed with
exposed parents
Nonexposed, Rongelap
Nonex posed, Majuro
the children at the time of examination, two ofthe
most frequent findings, active chronic impetigo
and palpable liver over 3 cm in size, were tabulated separately for several different age groups
7°20
13/30
Patent ductus arteriosus (repaired)
Deformity of the hip
1 {Subject 7¢905)
1 (Subject #496)
Pectus excavatum
| (Subject 4 2265)
Bihd uvuia
I (Subject #2269)
In addition, the incidence of congenital hypoplasia of the middle phalanx of the fifth finger was
determined from inspection of the roentgenograms
of the left hand. The incidencein relation to various exposure categories was as follows:
Incidence
Exposed, Rongelap
Nonexposed with exposed parents
Nonexposed, Rungeiap
Nonexpused, Majuro
2/33
0/4
5/53
0/14
Utinik (low exposure}
9/31
21)
=Total
7.19
3,15
0/34
7°26
Ob
3/26
O99
7/20
25/82
0/15
Table 8
Incidence of Palpable Liver (Over 3 cn)
(Tables 7 and 8}. The ages were based on the best
available birth date estimations. A tendency for
these findings to occur more frequently in the
younger children was noted. The incidences, however, did not appear to be related to exposure to
radiation.
During the physical examinations, the following
congenital anomalies were recorded:
4-9)
<4
Exposed
Nanexposed with
exposed parents
Nonexposed, Rongelap
Nonexposed, Majuro
2/20
6/30)
4-9
3210
Tutal
5/19
OLS
5/34
5726
lb
0/26
1/9
2/2U
11/82
2715
Table 9
Pediatric Dispensary Visits During 1959 Survey
Presenting complaint
Cough
Back or limb pain
Skin sores
Outs
Diarrhea
Anorexia
Headache
Worms
Loss of hearing
Laceration
Abdominal pain
Numberofpatients
l