Medical Radiology and Radiation Safety. 2023. Vol. 68. № 3

DOI: 10.33266/1024-6177-2023-68-3-16-20

F.S. Torubarov, Z.F. Zvereva, I.A. Galstyan, N.A. Metlyaeva

Features of Clinical Manifestations of the Primary Reaction
in Combined Radiation Injury (Radiation Exposure and Mechanical Head Injury)

A.I. Burnazyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center, Moscow, Russia

Contact person: Z.F. Zvereva, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To describe, on the basis of literature data, the features of the primary reaction of a person with a combined radiation injury – radiation exposure and mechanical head injury – in order to substantiate the possibility of using the symptoms of the primary reaction to predict the severity of acute radiation sickness (ARS).

Material and methods: Analysis of literature data.

Results: Based on the literature data, the clinical symptoms of the primary reaction in human radiation damage in a different dose range, and traumatic brain injuries are described: – concussion of the brain; – mild brain injury; – moderate brain injury.

To characterize the clinical picture of the combined effects of radiation injury and mechanical head injury, the symptoms of the primary reaction were compared with the symptoms of traumatic brain injury. Such symptoms of the primary reaction as vomiting, nausea, headache, dizziness in the most severe form of traumatic brain injury – a moderate brain injury – are diagnosed somewhat more often than in acute radiation sickness. In less severe forms of traumatic brain injury – concussion, mild brain injury – the frequency and severity of these symptoms are close to ARS.

In the complex clinical picture of combined radiation exposure and traumatic brain injury, the most different symptoms of the two components of combined radiation damage are the state of consciousness and the characteristics of the skin.

Conclusion: Clinical symptoms of the primary reaction to radiation exposure in conditions of combined radiation damage in the presence of head trauma lose their diagnostic significance for the early prognosis of the severity of developing ARS. In the clinical picture of combined radiation exposure and mechanical head injury, the most pronounced leading components should be the state of consciousness and the characteristics of the skin.

Keywords: combined radiation injury, mechanical head injury, primary reaction

For citation: Torubarov FS, Zvereva ZF, Galstyan IA, Metlyaeva NA. Features of Clinical Manifestations of the Primary Reaction in Combined Radiation Injury (Radiation Exposure and Mechanical Head Injury). Medical Radiology and Radiation Safety. 2023;68(3):16–20. (In Russian). DOI: 10.33266/1024-6177-2023-68-3-16-20

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Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Financing. The study had no sponsorship.

Contribution. Article was prepared with equal participation of the authors.

Article received: 20.01.2022. Accepted for publication: 25.02.2023.