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Multi-organ involvement in the patient who survived the Tokai-mura criticality accident

Department of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Research Center for Radiation Emergency Medicine, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan

Correspondence: Toshiyasu Hirama, MD, PhD, Department of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Research Center for Radiation Emergency Medicine, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555, Japan. E-mail: hirama@nirs.go.jp

The clinical course of the only survivor among the three victims of the Tokai-mura criticality accident in 1999 is presented. The patient was exposed to more than 2 Gy in total of neutrons and -rays and consequently exhibited severe bone marrow failure during the first month after the exposure, for which granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was administered and measures to prevent infection were taken. Hypoxemia, interstitial oedema of the lungs, epilation and gingival lesion were also noted but were not clinically serious. The patient recovered from the disease and as of December 2003 remains well. In the chronic phase, the patient exhibited cataract and transient subclinical hypothyroidism.