A COMPREHENSIVE CLINICAL-EVALUATION OF 20,000 PERSIAN-GULF-WAR VETERANS

In response to the health concerns of Gulf War veterans, the Departmen t of Defense instituted the Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (CCEP), Although not designed as a research study, the CCEP provided v aluable clinical data. An analysis was conducted of CCEP findings from systematic and comprehensive examinations of 20,000 U.S. Gulf War vet erans. Among 20,000 participants, the types of primary and secondary d iagnoses varied widely. Also, among veterans with an ICD-9-CM diagnosi s of ''symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions,'' no single subcat egory of illness predominated, and no characteristic physical sign or laboratory abnormality was identified, In total, there were 74 (0.4%) cases of connective tissue disease; 52 (0.3%) noncutaneous malignancie s; 42 (0.2%) peripheral neuropathies; 14 (0.07%) cases of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis; 12 (0.06%) cases of renal insufficiency; and no n ew cases of viscerotropic leishmaniasis. No clinical indication of a n ew or unique illness was identified in this self-referred population, and the types of physiologic disease that could result from postulated hazardous wartime exposures were uncommon.