Severe Fibrosis of the Skin and Sub-dermal Tissue of Goats after Single Exposures to Fast Neutrons

Summary

Three to five months after single exposures to fission neutrons, 620 to 787 rads, goats developed massive fibrosis of the dermis and the underlying connective tissue and muscles. Immobilization of limbs was a common complication. Clinically the lesions appeared to be similar to those seen in man after neutron therapy, but in both evolution and histology they differed significantly from human radiodermatitis. They have not been described in other animal species.