Table 1.

Effects of Radiation on Normal Tissue

Temporal Classification	Tissue	Effects
Early (hours to weeks)	Hematopoietic	Lymphopenia, neutropenia, thrombopenia, anemia, death (2.5-5Gy)
	Gastrointestinal	Bloody diarrhea, denudation of epithelia, destruction of intestinal crypt cells, death (5-12Gy)
	Cerebrovascular	Rapid cardiovascular and neurologic breakdown, death (12Gy+)
	Skin	Erythema, desquamation
	Testes	Death of stem cells, sterilization
	Ovaries	Death of oocytes, sterilization
Intermediate (weeks to months)	Lung	Acute pneumonitis
Late (months to years)	Gastrointestinal	Epithelial thickening, fibrosis
	Lungs	Fibrosis
	Bladder	Fibrosis
	Heart	Fibrosis, pericarditis
	Kidneys	Nephropathy, arterial hypertension, anemia
	Liver	Hepatitis, rapid loss of function
	CNS	Transient demyelination, leukoencephalopathy, radionecrosis.