Evaluation of occupational and environmental exposures and related findings in patients with sarcoidosis

<bold>Introduction:</bold> Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory, multisystemic disease of mostly unknown cause. Knowledge about the disease mechanisms and etiology remains limited. Blanc et al. found an overall occupational attribution of 30%. Exposure to insecticides, organic and inorganic dusts, molds are found to be associated with increased risk. The aim of our study was to evaluate occupational-environmental exposures that may be related to sarcoidosis, the relationship between clinical findings. Method: The patients with sarcoidosis were enrolled according to the calculated sample size (n=216). Laboratory and radiologic findings recorded and occupational-environmental history was taken from the patients by occupational disease specialists. <bold>Results:</bold> Demographic data of the patients are presented in Table 1. Occupational exposures included organic dust (straw, manure, grain, nuts) in 22.7%, textile dust in 13.9%, occupational mold in 7.9%, metal dust in 6.9%, and silica in 6%, household mold exposure was found in 39.4% and bird feeding history in 29.6%. The exposures were not associated with the clinical indicators. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> This is the first cross-sectional study of investigating effect of occupational-environmental exposures in sarcoidosis in Turkey. Birds and mold exposure were found to be high. Exposure to organic dust, metal and silica, textile dusts were noteworthy. There is a need for case-control studies that demonstrate causal relationships between sarcoidosis and exposures. <table-wrap><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA2222/TB1</object-id><object-id>T1</object-id><object-id>TB1</object-id><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>Age</td><td>50.5 ± 12.6</td></tr><tr><td> Female Gender </td><td> 68.5% (n=148) </td></tr><tr><td>Ever smoked</td><td>40.2% (n=87)</td></tr><tr><td>Family history</td><td>2.8% (n=6)</td></tr><tr><td> Clinical Indicators- Stage </td><td> I: 25.0% (54) II: 63.0% (136) III:6.5% (14) </td></tr><tr><td> DLCO -Low </td><td>38.0% (82)</td></tr><tr><td>Treatment</td><td>51.4% (111)</td></tr></tbody></table></table-wrap>