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, bilat-
eral pulmonary edema, and benign nephrosclerosis. Atrophy of the kidney,liver, and spleen were
noted. Principal findings on microscopic examination included myocardial fibrosis, aortic atherosclerosis, 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.*
Only 4 people, 2 exposed and 2 controls,
required hospitalization during the past year. Two
cases of hemorrhoids and an anal fistula required
surgical correction; one case of an acute exfoliative 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 soreness of the mouth and throat, anorexia, nausea,
vomiting, and diarrhea, and lasted from a few days
to several weeks. Occasional cases of fish poisoning (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 ubiquitous illness
in the South Sea Islands. The only other sicknesses
reported were the usual numberof cases of upper
respiratory infections, gastroenteritis, and numerous skin conditions.
different from that in the unexposed comparison
group. Appendix 5 lists major findings on each
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, com-
pared 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 diseases 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
sand presented such findings as arterloscierotre heart disease, yphoscetiots, Osteoarthritis, cataractg,and
blindnéss. These
had to be assisted:te the
examination room. @nly two cases ifthe unexposed group were in’this category
(No. 862-M,
age 88, and No. 946-M, age as). &
3 odiatHaiMotooicas EXAMINATIONS
In Table4 theincidence of various ophthalmological “findings in the Rongelap people is pre-
sented. Pterygia and pingueculae were the most
common, occurring in 43% @f the exposed adults
and 36.9% of the control group, but these were
not foundin individuals <20 years of age and were
most common in those >40. All lens opacities
a )senile, presenile, or congeni-
4a ‘GE the exposedadults and
13.6%of the control group that hiéd’senile cata-
acts,Lenticular opacities (inclading presenile and
ADULT EXAMINATIONS
In Tabie 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 examinations, the incidence of various abnormalities in
the exposed group did not appear to 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.
Congénital) qdcurred in 32.9%°of ‘the exposed
group and21.7% of the control group; the##were
mostcommen in those
e >45 years of age. No opacities were noted
radiation
i
iatic of those induced by
4a}
pigmentation equld be Classified into
t aquall There were
nieoot
-
20.8% of the exposed
23.925""of
group that had congenital ¢orieal pi
the| ntrol
pion
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-