Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: More than 50 years have passed since the atomic bomb was dropped. To evaluate the long-term effects of atomic bomb irradiation on ocular diseases and postnatal eye growth, we investigated the incidence of ocular diseases and the ocular axial length. Methods: We examined the eyes of both irradiated and non-irradiated inpatients in the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Memorial Hospital from 1997 to 1999, and the refractive error and axial length of patients who had cataract surgery from 1997 to 2000 in the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Memorial Hospital. The patients filled out questionnaires about their history of exposure. Axial length was measured with A-scan ultrasonography and refractive error was measured before the operation, except in those with mature cataract, ophthalmic anomaly or corneal leukoma. Results: The difference in the incidence of ocular diseases between the non-irradiated (154 males and 203 females) and irradiated patients (105 males and 275 females) was not significant The incidence of ocular diseases in the patients exposed within 2000m was similar to that of the non-irradiated. The difference was not statistically significant, but the frequency of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) in the irradiated group (0.53%) tended to be lower than that in the non-irradiated group (2%). And none of the irradiated patients who were exposed within 2000m and had had acute symptoms got ARMD. The types of cataracts were similar in the two groups. High myopia was found in 11 of the irradiated (176 males and 246 females) (3.2%) and in 24 of the non-irradiated (87 males and 269 females) (6.0%) patients who had cataract surgery (P=0.083). The average axial length in the former, except in those with severe myopia, was equivalent to that in the latter. Conclusion: The difference in the incidence of ocular diseases and axial length between two group was not statistically significant, perhaps because the "irradiated group " contained some patients with little or no exposure. More studies are needed, with detailed histories of degrees of exposure, if possible.
Keywords: 354 clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • 481 myopia • 308 age-related macular degeneration