Cerebrovascular diseases in nuclear workers first employed at the Mayak PA in 1948-1972.

Incidence and mortality from cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) (430-438 ICD-9 codes) have been studied in a cohort of 18,763 workers first employed at the Mayak Production Association (Mayak PA) in 1948-1972 and followed up to the end of 2005. Some of the workers were exposed to external gamma-rays only while others were exposed to a mixture of external gamma-rays and internal alpha-particle radiation due to incorporated (239)Pu. After adjusting for non-radiation factors, there were significantly increasing trends in CVD incidence with total absorbed dose from external gamma-rays and total absorbed dose to liver from internal alpha radiation.

The "clinic" medical-dosimetric database of Mayak production association workers: structure, characteristics and prospects of utilization.

To study early (deterministic) and long-term effects of radiation exposure, the "Clinic" medical-dosimetric database for the Mayak Production Association worker cohort has been established at the Southern Urals Biophysics Institute (SUBI). This paper describes the principles of organization, structure and prospects of future utilization of this database.

Predictability of acute radiation injury severity.

Results of dose-response analyses for different clinical symptoms of acute radiation syndrome (ARS) are reported here. The analyses were performed on dosimetric and clinical data from a group of ARS patients (59 cases) exposed to gamma and neutron or gamma radiation alone due to nuclear accidents at Mayak Production Association (Mayak PA). Findings suggested the possibility of prediction of injury severity within the first hours or days after acute exposure based on clinical symptoms and signs such as the onset of vomiting, neutrophil count abnormalities in the peripheral blood within the first 2-3 hours after acute exposure, and lymphocyte count abnormalities in the peripheral blood within the first 24-48 h after acute exposure.