The biological and clinical effects of acute whole or partial body irradiation

This paper reviews briefly the clinical effects of whole or partial body radiation exposure in terms of damage to normal tissue structure and function. The current biological understanding of the cellular organisation and radiosensitivity of three tissues critical to survival i.e. the bone marrow, the gastrointestinal epithelium and the central nervous system, is presented together with an assessment of how damage to each interrelates with the complex dose and time dependent clinical signs and symptoms commonly associated with whole body radiation exposure. (author)