Journal article
Pleural Determinants of Restrictive Lung Function and Respiratory Symptoms in an Asbestos-Exposed Population
Chest, Vol.101(3), pp.684-691
03/1992
DOI: 10.1378/chest.101.3.684
PMID: 1541133
Abstract
To further define the relationship between asbestos-induced pleural fibrosis and restrictive lung function, we investigated the pleural determinants of respiratory symptoms and restrictive physiology in 1,211 sheet metal workers. We evaluated the relationship between specific components of pleural fibrosis (costophrenic angle involvement, diaphragmatic plaques, width and length of pleural fibrosis, pleural calcification, and the type of fibrosis-circumscribed plaque or diffuse pleural thickening) and both forced vital capacity and respiratory symptoms. We found that costophrenic angle involvement, the width and length of pleural fibrosis, and the presence of either circumscribed plaque or diffuse pleural thickening were each significantly associated with a lower FVC. No consistent relationship was observed between FVC and either diaphragmatic plaques or pleural calcification. However, since the pleural abnormalities were highly collinear, none of these abnormalities alone or in combination predicted the reduction in FVC significantly better than a model that included circumscribed plaques and diffuse pleural thickening. We also investigated the relationship of each component of pleural fibrosis with cough, dyspnea, and chest pain. After controlling for appropriate confounders, a trend toward significance was observed between increased width and length of fibrosis and dyspnea with exertion. Otherwise, these pleural abnormalities were not consistently related to any of the three respiratory symptoms. Our results indicate that although pleural plaques and diffuse pleural thickening and their components are independently associated with a lower FVC, these components of pleural fibrosis do not substantially improve the previously defined relationship between FVC and both circumscribed plaques and diffuse pleural thickening. In addition, a trend toward significance was observed between the width and length of the pleural abnormality and dyspnea while hurrying.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Pleural Determinants of Restrictive Lung Function and Respiratory Symptoms in an Asbestos-Exposed Population
- Creators
- Ann Broderick - Pulmonary Disease Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Agricultural Medicine and Occupational HealthLaurence J. Fuortes - Department of Preventive MedicineJames A. Merchant - Department of Preventive MedicineJeffrey R. Galvin - University of IowaDavid A. Schwartz - Pulmonary Disease Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Agricultural Medicine and Occupational Health
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Chest, Vol.101(3), pp.684-691
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- DOI
- 10.1378/chest.101.3.684
- PMID
- 1541133
- ISSN
- 0012-3692
- eISSN
- 1931-3543
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/1992
- Academic Unit
- Occupational and Environmental Health; General Internal Medicine; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984363581902771
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