H. Cataracts

Review of Thirty Years Study of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors II. BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS

Abstract

Several months to years after exposure to ionizing radiation of the atomic bombs (A-bombs), some survivors developed cataracts. The characteristic clinical finding was a localized lenticular opacity on the inner surface of the posterior polar capsule presenting a polychromatic sheen, and punctate opacities or aggregations thereof in the subcapsular cortical layer of the posterior polar region. In the majority of the affected survivors, the degree of opacification of these radiation cataracts was minimal to moderate and remained unchanged. These cases had no other subjective disturbances associated with this condition.