Follow-up observation of eye lens in ten victims accidentally exposed to 60Co radiation source / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe late effect of 60Co radiation accident on eye lens in the victims.Methods Medical observations of eye lens were performed on ten victims accidentally exposed to 60Co sources in four radiation accidents that have occurred from 1986 to 2000 in Henan Province.Pathological changes of the eye lenses were examined by using slit lamp microscopy after mydriasis with compound tropicamide.Results Of these ten victims, Liang in a radiation accident in Kaifeng (in 1986), Mei in Xinxiang (in 1999) and Xu in Xuchang (in 2000) all had typical radiation-induced cataract 2, 3 and 6 years after irradiation, respectively.Follow-up observation of the lens showed the punctate and/or granular opacities present in the eye posterior subcapsular of Yan in Kaifeng accident, Jie in Zhengzhou (1987), and Tian, Yong and Yi in Xinxiang accident, featuring the early changes of radiation-induced cataract, but the posterior subcapsular opacities were not observed in Wang and Min in Xinxiang accident.Conclusions Focus should be on the eye lens as the target organ of radiation exposure in long-term follow-up of victims accidentally exposed to radiation source.Severity of the lens opacity induced by ionizing radiation is closely associated with radiation doses.