Morphology of irradiated microvasculature: a combined in vivo and electron-microscopic study

The purpose of this study was to establish a standardized experimental system to investigate the local effects of ionizing irradiation in the absence of systemic responses due to radiation. Twenty fully healed rabbit ear chambers in 13 rabbits were irradiated with single exposures of 7500 rads of beta-rays from a strontium-90 source. The irradiation resulted in an acute response, with cellular infiltration of the ear chambers, loss of vasomotion in arterioles, and vasodilatation. Over the weeks following irradiation, a gradual reduction in the number of blood and lymphatic vessels was noticed. A gradual reduction in the number of cells in the interstitium was also observed. Finally, only a few thin-walled blood vessels remained. Their endothelium contained no recognizable organelles and in places had disappeared completely, to expose the vascular basement membrane to the blood. These vessels were observed to be still flowing. No evidence either of capillary blockage due to swelling of endothelial cells or of platelet aggregation leading to thrombosis was obtained.