Hematopoiesis research in aplastic anaemia induced by accidental protracted radiation

Over the past few years there have been 2 radiation-related accidents involving a large number of individuals: the April 1986 accident in Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Ukraine and the September 1987 accident in Goiania, Brazil. These 2 radiation-related accidents highlight the major question raised by radiation-induced injury to the haematopoietic system, that is: does a given patient suffer from a reversible or an irreversible haematopoietic stem cell damage? Although about 350 radiation accidents involving several thousand people are known from the literature, in-depth haematopoiesis analyses of individuals after a radiation-related accident have rarely been reported. In this paper we present the case of a young man with radiation-induced aplasia and compare some biological data to those of 16 normal individuals and of 17 patients with acquired aplastic anaemia. Our patient was clinically and biologically (as assessed by long-term bone marrow culture) indistinguishable from patients with idiopathic acquired aplastic anaemia. Furthermore, therapeutic attitudes in this patient are discussed. In-depth study of such radiation-induced aplastic anaemia cases can shed some light in the understanding of this disease and may help in therapeutic decisions.