April 2014
Volume 55, Issue 13
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   April 2014
Atomic Bomb Radiation Exposure and the Prevalence of Age-related Macular Degeneration: the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor Study
Katsumasa Itakura; Ikuno Takahashi; Eiji Nakashima; Masahide Yanagi; Ryo Kawasaki; Kazuo Neriishi; Jie Jin Wang; Tien Y Wong; Yoshiaki Kiuchi
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Katsumasa Itakura
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
    Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
  • Ikuno Takahashi
    Clinical studies, Radiation Effect Research Foundation, Hiroshima, Japan
  • Eiji Nakashima
    Statistics, Radiation Effect Research Foundation, Hiroshima, Japan
  • Masahide Yanagi
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
    Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
  • Ryo Kawasaki
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
    Public Health, Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan
  • Kazuo Neriishi
    Clinical studies, Radiation Effect Research Foundation, Hiroshima, Japan
    Yachiyo Hospital, Akitakata, Japan
  • Jie Jin Wang
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
    Centre for Vision Research, Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  • Tien Y Wong
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
    Singapore Eye Research Institute, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
  • Yoshiaki Kiuchi
    Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships Katsumasa Itakura, None; Ikuno Takahashi, None; Eiji Nakashima, None; Masahide Yanagi, None; Ryo Kawasaki, None; Kazuo Neriishi, None; Jie Jin Wang, None; Tien Wong, None; Yoshiaki Kiuchi, None
  • Footnotes
    Support None
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science April 2014, Vol.55, 645. doi:
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      Katsumasa Itakura, Ikuno Takahashi, Eiji Nakashima, Masahide Yanagi, Ryo Kawasaki, Kazuo Neriishi, Jie Jin Wang, Tien Y Wong, Yoshiaki Kiuchi; Atomic Bomb Radiation Exposure and the Prevalence of Age-related Macular Degeneration: the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor Study. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2014;55(13):645.

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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the association between radiation doses from the atomic bombings and the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in older residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Methods: The Adult Health Study is a cohort study of atomic bomb survivors living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki of which 2,153 participants undertook retinal fundus photographs in 2006-8. An estimation of the radiation dose was based on the 2002 revised dosimetry system (DS02) and the weighted eye dose was used in units of gray (Gy) for analysis. Retinal photographs were graded by an ophthalmologist who was masked to participants’ characteristics including exposed radiation dose, according to the Wisconsin Age-related Maculopathy Grading System modified for non-stereoscopic retinal images. Early and late AMD were defined based on types of lesions presented in the worse eye of the person. Person-specific data were analyzed using logistic regression models to assess the association between radiation dosage and AMD adjusting for age, sex, smoking and residential site.

Results: Fundus images were gradable for 1,824 of the participants (84.7%). The participants’ mean age was 74.3±6.7 (61 to 97 years old). The prevalence of early AMD and late AMD were 10.5% and 0.3%, respectively. The prevalence of any (early or late) AMD increased with age (adjusted odds ratio, OR, per 10 years of age was 1.28, 95% confidence intervals, CI, 1.01 - 1.60). There were no significant associations between radiation dose and AMD; adjusted ORs per 1 Gy were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.75 - 1.15) for early AMD and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.21 - 2.94) for late AMD.

Conclusions: There was no long-term association found between radiation exposure early in life and prevalence of early and late AMD late in life among atomic bomb survivors.

Keywords: 412 age-related macular degeneration • 464 clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment • 463 clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence  
© 2014, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc., all rights reserved. Permission to republish any abstract or part of an abstract in any form must be obtained in writing from the ARVO Office prior to publication.
Copyright © 2025 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
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