A clinical study of radiation cataract formation in adult life
following 
irradiation of the lens in early childhood
Institute
of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Ophthalmology, Sahlgrenska
University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
Correspondence to: Dr Johan Sjöstrand, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Ophthalmology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, S-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden.
Accepted for publication 25 November
1996
AIMS
To analyse long term effects on the lens of
radium irradiation during infancy.
METHODSAn infant cohort (n = 20, median age 6 months) treated for skin haemangioma with one or two radium-226 needles
located at or within the orbital rim was examined 30 to 45 years after
radiation. Detailed information about the treatment procedure was
available for all cases. Subcapsular opacities were graded semiquantitatively according to a scale based on extent and density of
the opacities.
RESULTSA high prevalence of light to moderate
posterior, subcapsular, and cortical cataract formation was found in
the lenses on the treated side irradiated with a mean dose ranging from
approximately 1 to 8 Gy. The cataract formation increased as a function
of dose. The presence of subcapsular punctate opacities and vacuoles in the lenses on the untreated side receiving irradiation of an estimated dose varying around 0.1 Gy indicates a higher sensitivity than expected.
CONCLUSIONThe growing lens during infancy is
sensitive to radium irradiation at doses lower than those previously
stated. The eye lens seems suitable for studies of effects of low dose
radiation since damaged cells are retained in the lens for a lifetime.
© 1997 by British Journal of Ophthalmology
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