Experimental investigations on cataract formation following whole-body roentgen irradiation

E r i k P o p p eOpacities of the lens after irradiation in man were mentioned as early as around the turn of the century (BIRCH-HIRSCHFELD 1904).Nevertheless, many years passed before it was definitely established that the lens is very radio-sensitive.As late as in 1938, DESJARDINS stated in a survey that roentgen doses which did not produce injuries to the conjunctiva or cornea would also not cause lasting changes in the lens.The cause of this erroneous opinion has most likely been the long period of latency from the moment of radiation up to the moment when the lens changes could be observed.I n man, the latency period is from 2 to 5, even up to 12 years (MILNER 1934).AULAMO (1928) and ROHSCHNEIDER (1929) were the first to produce cataract experimentally in animals after local roentgen irradiation of the eye.The present writer in 1942, in an experimental study of rabbits, showed that local roentgen irradiation of the eye with doses as low as 250 r produced cataract.The opacities in the lens are manifested approximately 5 to 7 months after irradiation of the eye.The latency period is longer after smaller cataract-producing doses; the period of latency decreases after larger doses.The writer also described the in vivo and the histologic changes of the lens in rabbits after irradiation of the eye with doses of 100 r up to 3,000 r.The smallest cataract-producing dose (250r) did not cause any gross changes in the remaining parts of the eye.It seems that __