[Current prospects of cerebrospinal fluid diagnostics. II. Spectrophotometry].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C Negro.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
We studied non-specific bronchial responsiveness (NSBR) and blood eosinophils before and 24 hours after a bronchoprovocation test (SBPT) with wheat flour (22 cases) and TDI (32 cases). Twelve patients developed asthma after exposure to wheat flour (7 early and 5 dual/late asthma), and 12 after exposure to TDI (6 early and 6 late/dual asthma). Responders and non responders to wheat flour exposure were similar for all general characteristics except IgE levels (p = 0.036) and NSBR (p = 0.047). A higher degree of airway responsiveness to methacholine was the only characteristic which differentiated responders from non responders to TDI exposure (p = 0.043). Airway responsiveness, assessed 24 hours after the SBPT (44 cases), did not show any change compared to pretest values; the data were similar both among non responders to wheat flour (Wilcoxon p = 0.1) or to TDI (p = 0.2) and responders to TDI (p = 0.6) or wheat flour (p = 0.3); also no significant changes were observed among early and dual/late asthma caused by wheat flour and TDI. Twenty-four hours after the SBPT, blood eosinophils were higher than pretest, but only among the 24 patients with asthma (Wilcoxon p = 0.002); the blood eosinophil increase was statistically significant among patients with early and late/dual asthma caused by wheat flour, and among those with early and late/dual TDI asthma. In our study, NSBR was confirmed as a common feature of occupational asthma, either IgE mediated (wheat flour) or non-IgE mediated (TDI). Twenty four hours after the specific exposure, among patients with asthma induced by wheat flour and TDI, there was an increase in blood eosinophils while in the same time interval no variation in non-specific bronchial responsiveness was observed.
The presence of symptoms connected with the use of latex rubber gloves and sensitization to this allergen was studied in a group of 660 hospital workers who regularly used gloves as a means of protection. Symptoms connected with the use of gloves were reported by 153 subjects (23.2%) and were significantly associated with female subjects length of use and type of medical care. The majority of cases reported irritative symptoms (13.2%) whereas contact dermatitis and rash were reported by 3.6% and 5.5% of cases respectively. Systemic reactions (asthma and/or rhinitis) were reported by 5 subjects. Prick tests for latex were positive in 23 cases (3.5%), 15 of which were symptomatic. Positive skin reaction to latex was significantly associated with family atopy, personal case history and prick test. It is concluded that the presence of symptoms and sensitization to latex requires the implementation of preventive measures in order to reduce the risk of sensitization to a minimum, in addition to removal from exposure of those subjects who are already symptomatic or at risk.