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

• 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
• ISSN: 0895-8378; 1091-7691
• DOI: 10.3109/08958371003686016

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