[Examples for asbestos-related findings in HRCT - criteria for the assessment of causal relationships in surveillance programmes and medical expert opinion]. / Beispiele asbestfaserstaubbedingter Veränderungen im HRCT - Anhaltspunkte für die Kausalzuordnung bei Vorsorgeuntersuchungen und bei der gutachterlichen Beurteilung.

The increasing use of high-resolution computed tomography in formerly asbestos-exposed workers requires valid diagnostic criteria for the findings which have to be reported as suspicious for being asbestos-related in surveillance programmes and for the assessment of causal relationships between former asbestos exposure and findings in computed tomography. The present article gives examples for asbestos-related findings in HR-CT and discusses the specificity of parenchymal and pleural changes due to asbestos fibres.

[Recommendations for reporting benign asbestos-related findings in chest X-ray and CT to the accident insurances]. / Anzeigekriterien asbestfaserstaubbedingter Erkrankungen gemäss BK-Nr. 4103 BKV.

Asbestos-related diseases still play an important role in occupational medicine. The detection of benign asbestos-related diseases is one condition for the compensation of asbestos-related lung cancer in Germany. Due to the increasing use of computed tomography, asbestos-related diseases are more frequently detected in the early stages. The present article proposes recommendations for the findings which have to be reported as suspicious for being asbestos-related based on a) chest X-rays and b) computed tomography using the International Classification System for Occupational and Environmental Respiratory Diseases (ICOERD).

[Assessing health-related quality of life data of building trade workers by means of the SF-36 questionnaire]. / Die Erfassung der gesundheitsbezogenen Lebensqualität von Beschäftigten der Bauwirtschaft mit dem SF-36-Fragebogen.

The Lower Saxony statutory medical service of the building trade, the building trade association in Hanover and the statutory health insurance body of Lower Saxony have co-operated in the "ArGO" model project. The objective was to focus on the main areas of work-dependent health hazards and disorders. The SF-36 questionnaire was employed to ascertain how far the results obtained concerning health-related quality of life were suitable for this purpose. Hence, the data from industrial medical check-ups were compared with the additional findings for 4,334 building trade workers. Additional unfitness for work and medication data were available from the health insurance schemes for about one half of the group. The analyses revealed clear relationships between the subjectively experienced disorders on the one hand, and the stress and illness data on the other. In addition to age and the conventional stresses, e. g. strenuous physical work, the influence of psychosocial stress was also reflected in the assessment of the quality of life. The results obtained confirm the value of the SF-36 questionnaire for preventive medicine at an industrial level. It is suitable for identifying focal points of stress and can be employed for assessing preventative measures.