PREVALENCE OF LENS CHANGES IN UKRAINIAN CHILDREN RESIDING AROUND CHERNOBYL

The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and charact eristics of lens changes in the eyes of a pediatric population, 5-17 y old, living in the permanent control zone around the Chernobyl nuclea r reactor and to compare these findings with those from an unexposed c ontrol population. A total of 1,787 children are reported on (996 expo sed and 791 unexposed). Over three-quarters of the subjects examined i n this study show a form of minor change, termed focal lens defect, in the cortical and/or nuclear portions of the lens of the eye. The expo sed group shows a small (3.6%), but statistically significant excess ( p = 0.0005) of subclinical posterior subcapsular lens changes similar in form to changes identified in atomic bomb survivors. These posterio r subcapsular changes tend to occur in boys 12-17 y old and in exposed children who report consuming locally grown mushrooms on a regular ba sis.