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Myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia in survivors of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan

Journal Article · · Ann. Intern. Med.; (United States)
The clinical and autopsy findings of 12 patients with idiopathic generalized myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia autopsied over a 10-yr period at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC), Hiroshima are summarized. Ten of the patients were exposed to ionizing radiation at the time of the atomic bomb in 1945. The autopsy incidence in these 10 exposed patients was shown to be inversely proportional to the distance from the hypocenter with the highest incidence among those survivors most proximally exposed. The autopsy prevalence of myelofibrosis among members of the exposed population was found to be 4 1/2 times greater than among the nonexposed autopsy population at ABCC and 18 times greater than the autopsy incidence throughout the remainder of Japan. Although the present report strongly implicates ionizing radiation in the development of at least some cases of myelofibrosis, it does not exclude the possibility of other or even synergystic agents. No relation between degree of exposure and time of onset of symptomatology was found. Integration of the present data with the current concepts of myelofibrosis and the myeloproliferative disorders is discussed.
Research Organization:
Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, Hiroshima
OSTI ID:
6685415
Journal Information:
Ann. Intern. Med.; (United States), Journal Name: Ann. Intern. Med.; (United States) Vol. 60; ISSN AIMEA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English