Radiographic abnormalities among Finnish construction, shipyard and asbestos industry workers

Abstract

The following articles refer to this text: 2001;27(2):0; 2003;29(1):0

Impairment of lung function in asbestos-exposed workers in relation to high-resolution computed tomography

“…Previously 2857 persons with asbestos-related occupational nonmalignant pulmonary or pleural diseases among 18 900 asbestos-exposed persons were diagnosed (15,16) according to international guidelines (6,17). Of these, ethnically Finnish smoking men from the Helsinki area and willing to participate in additional studies and, in addition, nonsmokers with asbestosis were included (N=602) (18,19); however, women (N=10) and two persons with insufficient data were excluded.…”

Incidence of cancer among the participants of the Finnish Asbestos Screening Campaign

“…Only persons under 70 years of age were included. They were selected from the registers of trade unions and pension funds (17). Persons matching the aforementioned inclusion criteria could not be directly identified from the registers.…”

High-resolution computed tomography classification of lung fibrosis for patients with asbestos-related disease

“…In a previous study of 18 900 Finnish persons exposed to asbestos, 2857 were identified as having an asbestosrelated occupational disease (4). Those living in the Helsinki area (N=642) and willing to participate (N=602) were included in this study.…”

“…The patients were then classified into 6 categories by their main occupation and numbered according to estimated increasing asbestos exposure (figure 1, groups [3][4][5][6][7][8]. All the enrolled patients were construction workers who had installed heat and fire insulation, walls, and ceiling panels containing asbestos or had used asbestos paints, putties, and fillers.…”

“…For a single patient, the ILO classification system has a severe handicap due to its low sensitivity in the early stages of fibrosis (3). Diagnosing interstitial fibrosis from radiographic findings also gives a considerable amount of false positive results because small opacities may occur in radiographs without fibrosis (4) and radiographs with marginal abnormalities may be interpreted as pathological because of the great observer variation (5). Although asbestosis is incurable, patients are entitled to financial compensation for it as an occupational disease.…”