[Retrospective diagnosis of radiation inhalation lesions of the bronchial mucosa in clean-up personnel after the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor using the micronucleus test].

The aim of the study was to detect radiation lesions in histological samples of bronchial mucosa in Chernobyl wreckers suffering from chronic non-obstructive bronchitis 10 years after Chernobyl accident by the micronuclear test. The study group consisting of Chernobyl wreckers was comparable to the controls by sex, age, smoking and morphological variants of chronic bronchitis. The test in the study group was positive as it showed a significant increase in the number of the ciliated cells in bronchial mucosa as compared to the control group.