Silicosis in a paint-production worker: Study of a lung histological specimen with scanning electron microscopy-Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer.

The occupational risks in silica-exposed workers have been greatly reduced over the last decades; however, only few studies investigated uncommon forms of exposure to crystalline silica as shown by this case of silicosis in a paint-production worker.

Prevalence of Thyroid Diseases in an Occupationally Radiation Exposed Group: A Cross-Sectional Study in a University Hospital of Southern Italy.

BACKGROUND: Thyroid diseases occur more frequently in people exposed to ionizing radiation, but the relationship between occupational exposure to ionizing radiation and thyroid pathologies still remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of thyroid diseases in healthcare workers exposed to low-level ionizing radiation compared with a control group working at the University Hospital of Bari, Southern Italy, and living in the same geographical area, characterized by mild iodine deficiency. METHODS: We ran a cross-sectional study to investigate whether healthcare workers exposed to ionizing radiation had a higher prevalence of thyroid diseases. Four hundred and forty-four exposed healthcare workers (241 more exposed, or "A Category", and 203 less exposed, or "B Category") and 614 nonexposed healthcare workers were enrolled during a routine examination at the Occupational Health Unit. They were asked to fill in an anamnestic questionnaire and undergo a physical examination, serum determination of fT3, fT4 and TSH, anti-TPO ab and anti-TG ab and ultrasound neck scan. Thyroid nodules were submitted to fine needle aspiration biopsy when indicated. RESULTS: The prevalence of thyroid diseases was statistically higher in the exposed workers compared to controls (40% vs 29%, adPR 1.65; IC95% 1.34-2.07). In particular, the thyroid nodularity prevalence in the exposed group was approximately twice as high as that in the controls (29% vs 13%; adPR 2.83; IC95% 2.12-3.8). No statistically significant association was found between exposure to ionizing radiation and other thyroid diseases. CONCLUSION: In our study, mild ionizing radiation-exposed healthcare workers had a statistically higher prevalence of thyroid diseases than the control group. The results are likely due to a closer and more meticulous health surveillance programme carried out in the ionising radiation-exposed workers, allowing them to identify thyroid alterations earlier than non-exposed health staff.

Occupational asthma in a fruit and vegetables vendor.

BACKGROUND: This study presents a case report of a woman running a fruit and vegetables market stall, occupationally exposed to mushroom spores, who developed asthmatic symptoms. Basidiospores are allergens that can give rise to sensitization and subsequently trigger an allergic reaction, such as contact dermatitis, rhino-conjunctivitis, asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. METHODS: A 40-year-old atopic woman, who had worked at a market stall selling fruit and vegetables for the past 26 years in a small town market in southern Italy, came to our attention at the Occupational Medicine Unit, complaining of a 3-year history of dyspnoea, cough, and wheezing during autumn and winter. RESULTS: Spirometry showed a severe mixed type respiratory deficit with a significant bronchodilator response obtained with salbutamol administration. Skin prick tests to common aeroallergens were negative. Prick-to-prick test with fresh Pleurotus ostreatus was positive. We evaluated the size of the skin wheals and compared them to the positive control according to the Skin Index. An on-the-spot inspection of her store was performed and environmental conditions were identified that did not allow a satisfactory air exchange. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical history and the results of the allergologic investigations, plus an on-the-spot inspection, permitted us to ascertain that this subject had developed occupational asthma due to Pleurotus ostreatus spores. We advised her to stop handling and selling mushrooms, and she has no longer suffered asthmatic symptoms, over seven years of follow-up, and regularly continued to work without needing to take anti-asthma drugs.

Biomarkers in malignant mesothelioma: diagnostic and prognostic role of soluble mesothelin-related peptide.

Soluble mesothelin-related peptide (SMRP) is a biomarker that has been proposed for differential diagnosis from pleural metastatic cancer, as well as prognosis and treatment monitoring of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of SMRP in clinic management of MM. We assayed the SMRP concentrations in 354 subjects: 109 healthy volunteers with no history of exposure to asbestos, 26 patients with previous occupational asbestos exposure but who were free from pleural or parenchymal disease, 48 patients with asbestosis, 110 patients with pleural plaques, 25 patients with lung cancer, and 36 patients with MM. We also tested SMRP titers in 2 patients with MM at 5 different times of the disease, to evaluate the trend of the biomarker in the course of therapy. Our data confirm previous experiences with the use of SMRP as a diagnostic marker of MM. Low SMRP levels at diagnosis seem to have a positive prognostic significance.