1/153. Occupational IgE-mediated asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, and contact urticaria caused by Easter lily (lilium longiflorum) and tulip.BACKGROUND: We report on IgE-mediated asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, and contact urticaria to two liliaceae plants, tulip and Easter lily (lilium longiflorum), diagnosed in a floral shop worker. methods: Occupational asthma was diagnosed according to patient history, PEF monitoring, and a work-simulating provocation test. Flower-specific IgE was studied, and RAST inhibition tests were performed. RESULTS: skin prick testing showed positive reactions to tulip, Easter lily, and chrysanthemum. Total IgE was 180 kU/I, and specific IgE to tulip was 2.6 and to Easter lily 6.5 kU/I. In the RAST-inhibition test, no cross-reactivity was found. Occupational asthma was diagnosed by peak flow monitoring at work and at home, as well as specific inhalation challenge with Easter lily, with an immediate 18% reduction in PEF. In addition, contact urticaria and conjunctivitis were diagnosed. After a 9-year follow-up without exposure to lilies, the skin prick tests to L. longiflorum and tulip were still positive, but the specific IgE had disappeared. CONCLUSIONS: A case of IgE-mediated occupational asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, and contact urticaria caused by L. longiflorum and tulip is presented. RAST inhibition tests indicated concomitant sensitization to the two liliaceae plants.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/153. An operative procedure for advanced Kienbock's disease. Excision of the lunate and subsequent replacement with a tendon-ball implant.Excision of the lunate and subsequent replacement with a tendon implant was performed in 22 patients with Kienbock's disease between 1971 and 1985. This procedure was indicated mainly for those with advanced Kienbock's disease, i.e., stage III or IV according to the Lichtman classification. After the collapsed lunate is removed, a tendon-ball implant, made of the palmaris longus and plantaris tendons is placed in the resultant space in the carpus. A forearm distractor is applied during the operation, and distraction is continued for 4 weeks postoperatively. We report the long-term results in 15 patients, whose average follow-up period was 16 years and 3 months. One patient with infection was excluded from the study because the implanted tendon was removed 2 weeks after the operation, and 6 patients were lost to follow-up. All patients were free of pain after the surgery. The flexion-extension range of the wrist increased by 14.2 degrees, on average, after the surgery. The average grip power of the operated hand was 90.2% of that in the non-operated hand. Calcification and ossification were frequent in the implanted tendons a few months postoperatively. The average carpal height ratio (defined as carpal height/length of the third metacarpal) was 0.53 before the operation and 0.49 at the time of follow-up. According to Dornan's classification of clinical results, 9 of the 15 patients were classified as having excellent results and 6 as good.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4.5keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/153. alstroemeria L. (Peruvian lily).Alstroemerias are one of the most common plants that cause allergic contact dermatitis in floral workers. This colorful plant has gained great popularity among florists and their patrons. This concise review will help dermatologists to gain familiarity with this plant and show how to diagnose problems that it may cause.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.5keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/153. Too hot to handle: an unusual exposure of HDI in specialty painters.BACKGROUND: Hexamethylene Diisocyanate (HDI) is a color stable aliphatic isocyanate that is used in specialty paints as a hardener. Due to the lower vapor pressure of its commercial biuret form, it is considered a relatively "safe" isocyanate from an exposure standpoint. This case series reports on an unusual toxic exposure to HDI. Between November 1993 and May 1994, seven specialty painters and one boiler maker who were working at three different power plants were examined at the Institute of Occupational and environmental health at west virginia University. At their respective work sites, HDI was applied to the hot surfaces of boilers that were not shut down, and allowed sufficient time to cool. Consequently, these workers were exposed to volatile HDI and its thermal decomposition products. methods: All of these workers underwent a complete physical examination, spirometry, and methacholine challenge testing. RESULTS: All 8 workers complained of dyspnea, while 4 of the 8 also complained of rash. On examination 3 workers were methacholine challenge positive and 2 had persistent rash. At follow-up 4 years later, 5 workers still had to use inhalation medication and one had progressive asthma and dermatitis. All 8 workers, by the time of the follow-up, had gone through economic and occupational changes. CONCLUSIONS: This case series reports on an unusual exposure to HDI. It is unusual in that: 1) There were two simultaneous sentinel cases with two different material safety data sheets (MSDS) for the same product, 2) Exposure was to volatile HDI and its decomposition products and 3) Hazardous conditions of exposure occurred at three different sites.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/153. Parosteal osteosarcoma of the ring finger metacarpal in a semi-professional pianist.We report treatment of a low grade parosteal osteosarcoma of the ring finger metacarpal in a patient who would not contemplate ray amputation because of her career. Surgery involved excision of the bone, extracorporeal radiation then re-implantation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/153. carbon disulfide nephropathy.A 45-year-old nondiabetic man presented with features resembling diabetic triopathy. He worked in a rayon manufacturing plant and was exposed to toxic levels of carbon disulfide (CS(2)). Clinical abnormalities included peripheral and central nervous system abnormalities as well as retinopathy, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and nephrotic syndrome. He later developed focal sclerosing glomerulonephritis. The latter has not previously been described in cases of CS(2) exposure. Terminally, he developed end-stage renal disease and progressive dementia, both of which were thought to be consequences of CS(2) exposure earlier in life.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/153. Industrial mass psychogenic illness: the unfashionable diagnosis.Two previously unpublished outbreaks of Mass Psychogenic Illness (MPI) in italy are reported. The first outbreak involved 427 female workers at an electro-mechanical plant. Workers complained of work-related stressors, and high levels of conflict between their job and home duties. We conclude that the episode resulted from the interaction of environmental and work-related factors, the persons and the social organization of the workplace. The second case is one in which risk of MPI developing seems to have been successfully prevented. An effective stress coping strategy, coupled with workplace improvement, may have succeeded in eliminating cases of illness and preventing an outbreak of MPI.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/153. Chondral lesions after arthroscopic meniscus repair using meniscus arrows.Meniscus repair using bioabsorbable devices has become popular in the last few years. Good clinical results have been reported and few complications have been published. This report describes the case of a 37-year-old male patient with a lateral meniscus repair using 4 Meniscus Arrows (Bionx Implants, Blue Bell, PA). Postoperatively, repeated episodes of intra-articular effusions have occurred. A second-look arthroscopy 8 months after the reconstruction showed that the meniscus tear had not healed and revealed the presence of chondral damage corresponding to the location of the arrows in the posterior area of the lateral femoral condyle. Surgeons using the Meniscus Arrow should be aware of this possible postoperative complication.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/153. Punctate keratoderma-like lesions on the palms and soles in a patient with chloracne: a new clinical manifestation of dioxin intoxication?We report what we believe to be a novel skin manifestation of dioxin intoxication. A 30-year-old woman with 2,3,7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin levels of 144,000 pg g-1 blood fat presented with severe chloracne that affected the entire integument. She also exhibited acral granuloma annulare-like lesions and distal onycholysis and, at a later time point, showed signs of hypertrichosis, as well as brownish-grey hyperpigmentation of the face. In addition, she developed punctate keratoderma-like lesions on the palms and soles. These lesions were negative for human papillomavirus and histologically characterized by cone-shaped hyperkeratoses invaginating, but not penetrating, into the dermis. Squamous syringometaplasia of the eccrine glands was observed in the immediate vicinity of these lesions. Both clinically and histologically these alterations are essentially indistinguishable from what is described as keratosis punctata palmaris et plantaris (KPPP). Although a fortuitous coincidence of chloracne and KPPP cannot be formally excluded, the possibility exists that in our patient toxic levels of dioxin were causally involved in this disorder of keratinization.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/153. An unusual case of organophosphate intoxication of a worker in a plastic bottle recycling plant: an important reminder.A young man was sent to our emergency unit because he had suffered from vomiting and cold sweating for 2 days. At the time he was admitted, he had no acute abdominal pains or gastrointestinal symptoms, and a physical examination revealed nothing but a faster heart rate and moist, flushing skin. The patient had worked for 6 years at a plastic bottle-recycling factory, but none of his co-workers had the same symptoms. Nevertheless, because the plant also recycled pesticide bottles, we suspected organophosphate pesticide intoxication. The patient's plasma acetylcholinesterase level was checked, revealing 1498.6 microU/L (normal range: 2,000-5, 000) on the first day and 1,379 microU/L on the second day. Upon questioning, the patient recalled that one of his shoe soles had been damaged and that his foot had been wet from walking all day in rain collected on the factory floor on the day that his symptoms first occurred. We conducted a study in the change of preshift and postshift acetylcholinesterase levels among six of his co-workers on a rainy day. We used the Wilcoxon signed rank test to compare the preshift and postshift plasma acetylcholinesterase levels; no significant difference was revealed (p = 0.600), leaving contamination via the damaged shoe sole suspect. We reviewed the literature on organophosphate intoxication; pesticide bottle-recycling factories were reported to be at a low risk of organophosphate toxicity in the working environment. However, because the potential risk of intoxication is still present, protective equipment such as clothing, gloves, and water-proof shoes should be worn, and employees should be educated on the potential risks.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.5keywords = plant (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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