Turkthoracj, Turkish Thoracic Journal

Control day,exposure day,occupational asthma,specific inhalation challenge TEST

This correlation has been studied since the 1930s, and it is believed that exposure to silica can lead to various autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic sclerosis. The exact mechanisms behind this link remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of connective tissue diseases (CTD) and positive autoantibodies in pneumoconiosis patients and the association between radiological categorization and autoantibodies. The study included 317 subjects. Pneumoconiosis cases’ clinical, radiographic classification, and laboratory results were compared to autoantibody-positive and autoantibody-negative cases, and CTD cases were examined. The prevalence of the CTD in pneumoconiosis was 6%. Sjögren syndrome (n = 5) was the most common disease associated with pneumoconiosis. Autoantibodies were found in 83 (26.2%) pneumoconiosis cases. Antinuclear antibody positivity was highest (n = 75; 23.65%). More than 1 autoantibody was positive in 23 cases (7.25%), while rheumatoid factor was positive in 9 cases (2.84%). It has been shown that autoantibody positivity is 2.79 times higher in cases with category 3 and above pneumoconiosis. The prevalence of CTD and autoantibody positivity associated with pneumoconiosis is higher than in the general population. The presence of autoantibody positivity is associated with advanced pneumoconiosis disease.

Introduction and Background: Occupational asthma (OA) is frequent occupational lung disease. It is recommended to monitor Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) for at least two weeks for a diagnosis of occupational asthma in Turkey. However, gold standard method for diagnosing OA is Specific İnhalation Challenge (SIC) test. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the comparison of SIC test results in patients with OA and non-occupational asthma (NOA) and to discuss PEFR monitoring and underdiagnosis. Methods: 24 patients (16 OA, 8 NOA) who underwent SIC between July-December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The most common exposures were flour (n: 5) and wood powders (n: 5). Although the number of patients exposed to LMW was higher, OA was significantly higher at the IgE level (697.39 ± 839.36 kU/ml) (p: 0.027). There was no significant relationship with exposure agent or duration of exposure (p: 0.054; p: 0.973). The predicted FEV1 and FEV1/FVC ratio was lower in patients diagnosed with OA than in patients with NOA (p: 0.026; p: 0.039). The average number of PEFR monitoring days of patients diagnosed with OA with the SIC test was 26,53±12,90. 13 patients who diagnosed with OA with SIC test was evaluated PEFR monitoring results were negative. Although minimum FEV1value on exposureday was lower in OA group than NOA group (p:0,001). Conclusion: We detected under diagnosed cases rates were higher with diagnosing OA PEFR monitoring alone. Our study also demonstrated that LMW agents cause immunological OA, independently from agent type and duration of exposure.