To study possible chronic respiratory problems of people working in swine confinement buildings, a cross-sectional epidemiological study was initiated. A cohort of swine confinement workers was matched for age, sex, and smoking history with nonconfinement swine producers. Pulmonary function studies and a survey questionnaire for chronic respiratory disease symptoms (the American Thoracic Society, Epidemiologic Standardization Project Questionnaire) were performed on both groups. Compared to controls, the confinement workers experienced significantly higher prevalence of chronic bronchitis and wheezing, (odds ratio 7 and 4, respectively). There were, however, no significant differences in baseline pulmonary functions. Based on the high prevalence of chronic respiratory disease symptoms, this study emphasizes an emerging occupational concern in agriculture to the estimated 500,000 persons working in swine confinement operations and the estimated 500,000 additional persons who work in poultry, veal, beef, or dairy confinement operations. It is important to study a representative population of these workers prospectively to determine if a progressive loss in lung function is evident.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Foreign body removal: a new role for the fiberoptic bronchoscope.

Artificial and animal lung models initially were used to investigate the removal of foreign bodies from the tracheobronchial tree with the flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope. Different extraction instruments (claw, basket, forceps, and balloon catheter) were passed separately through the channel of the bronchofiberscope, and tested for usefulness prior to human application. The Fogarty balloon catheter served as a valuable aid in dislodging impacted objects so that the operator could then grasp them with the claw, basket or forceps. The wire claw recovered many of the metallic and organic objects, the wire basket was successful in retrieving only the bulky objects and the forceps (ACMI) was effective in capturing all of the metallic foreign bodies. These techniques, developed in our laboratory, are now being used to augment rigid bronchoscopy in the removal of foreign bodies from adults and older children. At the present time fiberoptic foreign body removal is not recommended for pediatric cases because of the small diameter of the trachea and glottis in infants and young children.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Endobronchial foreign body removal using the bronchofiberscope.

In certain situations the flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope can augment rigid bronchoscopy in foreign body removal. A case of a successful fiberoptic removal of an endobronchial foreign body (dental bridge) is presented. A wire basket, inserted through the channel of the bronchofiberscope, was used to capture the object.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Indications, training, and certification.

To assist hospital committees in maintaining high standards of practice in their facilities, the American College of Physicians has prepared a list of cognitive and procedural objectives which may serve as guidelines in evaluating physicians' performance of fiber-optic bronchoscopy. These are outlined here, along with indications, contraindications, and high-risk situations.

Bronchoscopy↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis [proceedings].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Biopsy↗