Z. Dujic et al., ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ASBESTOS-RELATED PLEURAL PLAQUES AND RESTING HYPERVENTILATION, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health, 19(5), 1993, pp. 346-351
This study reports an association between pleural plaques and resting
hyperventilation in a group of workers exposed to asbestos. Informatio
n on exposure level, pack-years of cigarette smoking, chest radiograph
s, ventilation parameters, single-breath diffusing lung capacity, and
arterial gases were obtained for 344 workers. After the exclusion of 3
7 workers for isolated parenchymal fibrosis, combined pleuroparenchyma
l fibrosis, or diffuse pleural thickening, 55 subjects with isolated p
leural plaques were evaluated against 252 no-plaque workers. A quantit
ative pleural score revealed mild pleural disease. Forty-four workers
with plaques (80%) had hypocapnia induced by resting hyperventilation.
The quantitative pleural score correlated significantly with the part
ial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood (correlation coeffici
ent = -0.7). A decrement in forced vital capacity was associated with
plaques, whether controlled for age, smoking, and exposure or not. It
was concluded that the resting hyperventilation observed in some asbes
tos-exposed subjects is related to the presence of mild pleural plaque
s and a restrictive disorder.