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Document ID (ISN)111024
CIS number 10-0526
ISSN - Serial title 0340-0131 - International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
Year 2010
Convention or series no.
Author(s) Vierikko T., Järvenpää R., Toivio P., Uitti J., Oksa P., Lindholm T., Vehmas T.
Title Clinical and HRCT screening of heavily asbestos-exposed workers
Bibliographic information Jan. 2010, Vol.83, No.1, p.47-54. 30 ref.
Internet access Clinical_and_HRCT_screening.pdf [in English]
Abstract The objective of this study was to clarify the indications for high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in the surveillance of workers heavily-exposed to asbestos. A group of 627 workers known to have been heavily-exposed to asbestos were screened and HRCT findings were classified and divided in two groups: pulmonary fibrosis (n = 86) and no fibrosis (n = 541). Most of the detected fibrosis cases were mild. The magnitude of asbestos exposure showed an unexpected inverse relation with fibrosis. In multivariate analyses, age, lung function and diffusing capacity were associated with HRCT fibrosis, but asbestos exposure was not. Asbestosis seems to be characterized by mild fibrosis today even in heavily exposed workers. Implications of these and other findings are discussed.
Descriptors (primary) asbestos; diagnosis; pulmonary fibrosis; asbestosis; tomography; medical supervision
Descriptors (secondary) pulmonary function; radiology; statistical evaluation; reliability; age-linked differences; description of technique
Document type D - Periodical articles
Subject(s) Occupational pathology
Broad subject area(s) Occupational medicine, epidemiology
Chemical safety
Browse category(ies) Asbestos
Diseases of the respiratory system (except for pneumoconiosis & similar)