Interstitial Lung Disease in Firefighters: An Emerging Occupational Hazard

Frontiers in Medicine

article

Cathryn T. Lee¹  Iazsmin Bauer Ventura²  E. Kate Phillips³  Amy Leahy¹  Renea Jablonski¹  Steven Montner⁴  Jonathan H. Chung⁴  Rekha Vij¹  Ayodeji Adegunsoye¹  Mary E. Strek¹ 

[1] Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago;Section of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago;Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital;Section of Thoracic Radiology, Department of Radiology, University of Chicago

关键词: interstitial lung disease;    occupational exposure;    firefighting;    interstitial lung disease risk;    case series;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmed.2022.864658

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Introduction Occupational risk factors for interstitial lung disease (ILD) are a remediable aspect of this progressive pulmonary disorder. The association between firefighting and ILD is unknown. Our objective was to assess the characteristics of firefighters with ILD from a large single-center ILD registry. Methods The University of Chicago ILD database was reviewed for patients with a history of firefighting. Clinical information was abstracted from the medical record. The prevalence rate ratio of firefighters in the database compared to the baseline prevalence of firefighting in the Chicago metropolitan area was calculated via the Poisson distribution. Results Nineteen firefighters were identified; all were men. A variety of ILD subtypes were seen across the cohort, including four patients with a diagnosis of connective tissue disease. Patients had mild forced vital capacity (FVC) and moderate diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) decrements on presentation; three patients died and two received lung transplantation over an average follow-up time of 76 months. Firefighters were seen at a greater proportion in the ILD registry than in the general population with a prevalence rate ratio of 3.98. Conclusions Firefighting was overrepresented in our cohort compared to the general population, suggesting that there may be a causative association between firefighting and the presence of ILD. The wide variety of ILD subtypes observed suggest that all ILD patients should be asked about their occupational history. Further investigation to identify occupational exposures and determine the benefit of remediation is needed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY