Premium
Railroad workers with pleural plaques: I. Spirometric and nitrogen washout investigation on smoking and nonsmoking asbestos‐exposed workers
Author(s) -
Hjortsberg Ulf,
Ørbaek Palle,
Arborelius Måns,
Ranstam Jonas,
Welinder Hans
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700140602
Subject(s) - asbestos , medicine , lung , nitrogen washout , lung function , logistic regression , pulmonary function testing , spirometry , cardiology , lung volumes , surgery , pathology , asthma , materials science , functional residual capacity , metallurgy
Eighty‐seven workers exposed to asbestos in a railroad car repair shop, with characteristic asbestos‐induced pleural plaques, underwent extensive lung‐function examination. Vital capacity (VC) showed the greatest reduction among the static lung volumes, with an asymmetrical distribution of one‐fourth of the subjects below 80% of the predicted value. Logistic regression demonstrated VC to be sufficient for optimal discrimination of asbestos‐exposed subjects from a group of matched controls. No further discriminationry power was gained by additional spirometric measures, lung mechanics, blood gas analysis, or diffusing capacity. Smoking had an influence on dynamic but not on static lung volumes. In conclusion, reduced static lung volumes among smoking asbestos‐exposed workers with pleural plaques should, in the absence of other lung diseases, be mainly attributed to the asbestos exposure.