43
Table 25
Thyroid Lesions in Marshallese, December 1974
Age at
exposure
Group
Rongelap exposed (175 rads}
<10
“8
“ Subjects® with
thyroid lesions
Noa.subjects
with surgery
% Subjects? with
malignant lesions
810-1150
89.5 (17/719)
15
3.3 (1/19)
336
34.4 (22/64)
19
10-18¢
>18
335-810
335
<10
275-430
All
Ailingnae exposed (69 rads)
Est. thyroid
dose, rads
10-18
=
ee As Rope
In uter, exposed _ ve
nL. TSP
ean ee vtite we te 6Q+?.
UCririkexpaseda4 radt)
"
<0
ce wy
2.
.
(
33.3 (1 *3) °
0.0 (0,1)
60-935
isi." Veer
ee
AR
ooae
Rongelap unexposed OSerOe ee
wae
TE AR 8 os Be
OTR
;
aR gO ~ee ae
wae
Dow el te
OR SAMS,xz
“Likiep unexppsids egSS
Oo eR ates
ro
-
=
-
ee SIGE
3
4
_-
1
0
6.4 (3/78)
3
1
4.8 (1/21)
3.8 (6/157)
1.6 (1/61)
7.7 (1/13)
4
0
1
0.6 (1/157)
4.6 (9/194)
0.0 (0/31)
3
0
os,
as
0
©
4.7 (5/106)
an ifr
2
0
5.8 (7/120)
-
4.7 (3/64)
0
6.0 (0/38)
4.8 (1/21)
6.1 (2/33)
if
0.0 (0'1)
on - a8 A2
OB TB
l
3
33.3 (26)
190
SE
SEs Et Da
og see
we Neeen a SE Be)
33.3 (6,1
se
_
16.6.(2.12)
9.1 (3. 33)¢
3.6 (5/137)
2
0
’
“Doss
au,28
18, ahd 158] plus gamma, mean dose extrapolated from calculations®* for adults and 3-year-olds
(see Section.
bBased ‘on number of'peopleexposetl, excluding those ia ufero (numberof cases/total number in group).
¢The thyroid isconsidered to be fully developed by about age 18.
4QOne additionaj case of adenoma, found at autopsy, not included here.
*
¢ Weighted mean dose.
"
a
wi
f Pathologists differed adi6 whether this lesion was malignant; it was scored as benign.
=
' -& ENBmore energetic
: -Bvettinctoper
ofiodyne(ohiributed less to the total thyroid dose in the.Utirik peoplehe-.- Pan
causethe failoat ocetatredtat “Shere.t
rad would be less im wh#Bivteile
be pitititvedaise |BhatAbepeingen! efectexcncss of-thethyroiddose per
5.3 lieoe2zeay
re os
as
roid surgery ha’ béen cartied
posed Rongelappeopttarith |removalof‘varying
v
_
wo. oT
*
.
"
2
a
: ieso. Saladke tte Rae OR
a BBat
exposure). Afourthcaseofcancer|
--
f
amountsof thyreid tissuedependiyonthe-eagent ~
of the lestons (20 were
serbsatal atid-4 tot
oo
ectomies with parathyroidectomy inadvertentlyfin . eh
have Sette
withremoval ofsees
‘adies.
one of the latter who was thoughtto have cancer
at the time of surgery). Of these cases, 3 were
. oundtohave carcinoma of the.thyroid and 21 to
nomas. All three were women. Hospital summaries of
cases admitted at BNL are presented in Appendix 10.
1. Gross Appearance “bes
ofthe thyroid. ..
ofcarcinom=of the thytgid oc-|
o “onSince the discovery
curred in a40--year-old woman(29 at the time of
exposure) in the heavily exposed group. Theinterval between exposure and diagnosis was 11
years.70.23 The second and third cases in this group
occurred 15 years after exposure, in a 36-year-old
woman (age 21 at exposure) and in a 22-year-old
4a
nSE ge
years after radiation exposure,
clinicians:particu- ~
larly interested in the thyroid have participated in
the annual examinations. As a result, any shght
irregularities discovered by palpation drew special
attention. This high degree of scrutiny and suspicion led to the detection and removal of nodules
a