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Carcinoma of the thyroid at autopsy was found to be far more frequent in Japan than in any recorded American series. In 3,067 consecutive autopsies from the fixed population sample of the Japanese National Institute of Health-Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission Life-Span Study in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 536 primary thyroid carcinomas were found—97% were occult papillary. The prevalence was significantly higher in women and those exposed to 50 rads or more of direct atomic radiation. The prevalence rate in the 1,096 persons in this study with no radiation dose whose entire thyroid gland was examined was 17.9% compared to 1.0% to 4.0% in the American series. Radiation, method of examination, diagnostic criteria, and bias in autopsy selection did not appear to explain the observed high frequency of thyroid carcinoma at autopsy.
Richard J. Sampson (Mon,) studied this question.
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