Statistical Views on Late Complications of Chemical Weapons in Iranian CW Victims

During the 8 years Iran - Iraq war (1980 - 1988) chemical weapons had been frequently used by Iraqi army against Iranian military persons and also against civilian people of some Iranian border towns and villages. During these chemical attacks, several kinds of chemical agents (nerve agents, blistering agents, mixed agents) were used. According to the recorded data from field emergency units, field hospitals of battle zones and the list of evacuated CW victims from the front, more then 100,000 military and civilian persons had received treatment for the acute effects of CW agents in those medical centers and in other hospitals and cities behind the front(both out patient and inpatient treatment). Today, more than 13 years after the end of the Iraq - Iran war, approximately 34,000 Iranian military and civilians are still suffering from the long term effects of chemical weapons deployed by Iraq (especially mustard gas), and they are receiving medical treatment services by the organization of veterans affair (Janbazan orgnization). The severity of these late complications in CW victims depends on the rate of exposure, type and dose of CW agentsL3, so we have a method in the Janbazan organization for categorizing the severity of complications in the CW victims. According to this method (based on severity of late complications and the clinical status), there are three category of patients: patients with MILD, MODERATE and SEVERE complications. In this article the criteria used in this categorizing method and the statistical results of this categorizing are discussed.