[Measurements of radiocesium incorporation in 250 deceased patients who died within a year following Chernobyl].

Two months after the nuclear accident of Chernobyl, postmortem measurement of radiocaesium (137 Cs and 134 Cs) were started in different organs to study incorporation, organ distribution, and kinetics. 250 corpses were examined between July 1986 to August 1987 in the Department of pathology, St. Pölten. Highest concentrations were found in skeletal muscles, with a median value of 2.3 pCi/g wet weight (80-90% of the total incorporated dose), followed by liver, lung, spleen, kidneys, thyroid gland, heart, blood and brain, with values between 0.8 and 1.3 pCi/g. No caesium was detectable in fatty tissue. During the observation period an increase in caesium concentration was observed in almost all organs. The concentration almost doubled within 10 months in skeletal muscles. Only the lung demonstrated a decrease in the radiocaesium concentration within the first months, which can be explained only by inhalation of radiocaesium. A statistically significantly higher caesium concentration in most organs was found in females as compared with males. A possible explanation is the known lower urinary caesium concentration in women. Statistically significant correlations were found between caesium concentration and nutritional status, presence of malignancy, and the most recent intravital serum creatinine value.