An Effective Therapeutic Regimen for the Hemopoietic Phase of the Acute Radiation Syndrome in Dogs

Abstract

Administration of large amounts of fresh whole blood when indicated to control bleeding, judicious use of antibiotics to control infection, and parenteral fluids to combat dehydration was successful in reducing the mortality from 9 of 10 untreated controls to 2 of 10 in the treated dogs exposed to 400 r of X-irradiation. It was easier to control hemorrhage by fresh whole-blood transfusion than to control infection with antibiotics. Regeneration of the bone marrow as reflected by peripheral counts commenced on approximately the 23 to the 30th day postirradiation. The leukocytes appeared several days earlier than the platelets in all dogs. The rate of regeneration was different in the treated dogs and was slower in the 4 smaller dogs. The preirradiation platelet, leukocyte, and red blood cell levels were not reached at the end of 100 days in these 4 dogs. The greater degree of effect seen in smaller dogs is discussed in terms of the greater tissue, or absorbed dose received by these animals with a given air exposure dose.