Long-term pulmonary complications of chemical warfare agent exposure in Iraqi Kurdish civilians

The Iraqi government used a range of chemical weapons, including blistering and nerve agents, against Iraqi Kurdish civilians in the 1980s. Few data exist about the long-term respiratory consequences of this exposure. In this study, Kurdish subjects with a history of exposure to chemical weapons wer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Inhalation toxicology 2010-08, Vol.22 (9), p.719-724
Main Authors: Ghanei, Mostafa, Naderi, Mostafa, Kosar, Ali Morad, Harandi, Ali Amini, Hopkinson, Nicholas S., Poursaleh, Zohreh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Chemical Warfare Agents - poisoning
Chemical weapon
civil population
Cough - chemically induced
Cough - ethnology
Cough - physiopathology
CT scan
Dyspnea - chemically induced
Dyspnea - ethnology
Dyspnea - physiopathology
Ethnic Groups
Female
gas trapping
Halabja
Humans
Inhalation Exposure - adverse effects
Iraq - ethnology
Iraqi Kurdish
long-term pulmonary complications
Lung - drug effects
Lung - physiopathology
Lung Diseases - chemically induced
Lung Diseases - ethnology
Lung Diseases - physiopathology
Male
Middle Aged
Minority Groups
Radiography, Thoracic
Respiratory Function Tests
sulfur mustard
Young Adult
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Summary:The Iraqi government used a range of chemical weapons, including blistering and nerve agents, against Iraqi Kurdish civilians in the 1980s. Few data exist about the long-term respiratory consequences of this exposure. In this study, Kurdish subjects with a history of exposure to chemical weapons were invited to attend a clinical assessment, including a review of their history, physical examination, and a high-resolution computed tomography (CT) of the thorax. Blistering at the time of exposure was used to define significant exposure to mustard gas. Results were compared between two groups of blistering and nonblistering. Four hundred seventy-nine subjects were studied; 45.7% male and 54.3% female. The mean age and standard deviation (mean ± SD) of the cases was 43.1 ± 13.7. Spirometry was abnormal in 15.2% of subjects and air trapping was present on CT scan in 46.6% and did not differ between patients with (n = 278) or without a history of blistering. Respiratory symptoms, including dyspnea, cough, and sputum production, were more common in subjects with a history of blistering (all p
ISSN:0895-8378
1091-7691
DOI:10.3109/08958371003686016