injuries poisoning
Radiation Exposure and Contamination
Prognosis for Radiation Exposure and Contamination
Without medical care,the LD-50/60 (dose expected to be fatal to 50% of patients within 60 days) for whole-body radiation is about 3 Gy; exposure to>6 Gy is nearly always fatal. When exposure is<6 Gy, survival is possible and is inversely related to total dose. Time to death decreases as the dose increases. Death may occur within hours to a few days in patients with the cerebrovascular syndrome and usually within 2 days to several weeks in patients with the gastrointestinal syndrome. In patients with the hematopoietic syndrome, death may occur within 4 to 8 weeks because of a supervening infection or massive hemorrhage. Patients exposed to whole-body doses<2 Gy should fully recover within 1 month, although long-term sequelae (eg, cancer) may occur. With medical care,the LD-50/60 is 6 Gy. Occasional patients have survived exposures of up to 10 Gy. Significant comorbidities, injuries, and burns worsen prognosis. 