Anomaly in the activity ratios of the descendant nuclides to the ancestor 232Th found in spleen of a thorotrast patient

According to Kaul et al. the best estimates of the activity ratios of 228Ra/232Th and 228Th/232Th in living spleen of a Thorotrast patient are 0.37 and 0.33, respectively. We found abnormally high values of the above activity ratios, 0.95 and 0.86, respectively, in spleen of a Thorotrast patient who developed a liver cancer. The spleen was shrunk to one tenth of the normal size. It was suspected that the function of the spleen had decayed long before the death. (author)