Histopathological Studies on Radiation Pneumonitis.

Studies on radiation pneumonitis have been made from the beginning of the 20th century in Europe and America. Prior to the Second World War, many articles have appeared including the works of Engelstad5> and Warren et al.25) who described the general aspects of this problem. In Japan, the incidence of this disease has been rare. A case report by Hamaguchi and Akazaki9) was only available before the Second World War. Recently, with a remarkable im provement of the method of radiation, a large dosage of radiation is administered over a long period of time. Consequently, this disease has frequently been observed, and many reports have come out since around 1955. However, histo pathological study on this disease is few. The pattern of disease and the mechanism of its occurrence are still obscure in many ways. Considering these points, the author has carried out a histopathological study on human autopsied cases and obtained some new informations .