Case report: Iridium 192-health effects during 20 years after irradiation

This Case Report has presented health effects of high level of irradiation with gamma rays from Ir 192m on the patient M. L. during 21 years after the accident. The main purpose of this investigation was to analyze long time consequences of partial high-level irradiation on human health. Locally, short-term irradiation, with high deadly dose, caused acute radiation syndrome with reversible disorder function of the individual, most exposed, organs. Frequency of chromosomal aberrations (dicentric), characteristic for direct irradiation, was increased. However, dicentric analyzes did not give expected result for an acute radioactivity illness. Radio dermatitis had begun already after the incident, while changes on the heart began not earlier than six months and gradually have been increased up to two years after the incident. Irradiated parts of the patient skin have been replaced with auto-transplanted skin and appropriate therapy had been taken. More than two decades after the irradiation, system (leukemia) nor solitary tumor on near organs (liver, heart, lungs, bones) have not been appeared. Radiation illness did not happen in spite of very large dose, because impacts had been local and body was unlikely irradiated. Also, an appropriate therapy was organized and other potential illnesses did not appear.