ABSTRACT
The spirometric pulmonary function tests (PFT) were studied in age-matched sugar factory workers who were exposed to sugarcane dust (n = 354) and normal healthy controls (n = 40) from the Western Maharashtra region of India. Anthropometric measurements were taken of both groups before the assessment of pulmonary function. Factory workers were grouped into two groups depending upon type of exposure to bagasse or sugarcane dust. The exposure groups were divided into a direct exposure group (those handling bagasse, n = 34) and an indirect exposure group (those not handling bagasse, n = 320). The spirometric PFT parameters studied were FVC (Forced Vital Capacity), FEV1 (Forced Expiratory Volume in first second), PEFR (Peak Expiratory Flow Rate), and MVV (Maximum Voluntary Ventilation). An examination of the percent of predicted values of all the parameters studied indicated that the values of all PFT parameters were significantly reduced in the direct exposure group as compared with control group. In indirect exposure group also showed reduced values that did not a reach significant level. We conclude from these findings that exposure to sugarcane dust (bagasse) and to other pollutants in a sugar factory is associated with lung dysfunction, which is more pronounced in the direct exposure group. A further study on a larger scale is essential to confirm our findings.
Subject(s)
Carbohydrates , Food Industry , Occupational Exposure/adverse effects , Respiratory Function Tests , Adolescent , Adult , Anthropometry , Dust , Female , Forced Expiratory Volume/physiology , Humans , India , Male , Maximal Voluntary Ventilation/physiology , Middle Aged , Peak Expiratory Flow Rate/physiology , Saccharum , Spirometry , Young AdultABSTRACT
The authors used chest computed tomography to determine the distribution of pulmonary lymphadenopathy in 40 patients with sarcoidosis. Using the American Thoracic Society lymph node map, the number and distribution of significant lymph nodes was calculated. Overall, lymphadenopathy was identified in 39 of the 40 patients. Mediastinal adenopathy was present in 38 patients, and hilar adenopathy was present in 27. Commonly involved nodal stations were 4R, 5, 7, 10R, 11R, and 11L, and little involvement was seen in stations 1, 6, and 14. An understanding of the common sites of adenopathy in sarcoidosis is useful when assessing adenopathy in patients without a known diagnosis.
