Increased pulmonary artery diameter is associated with reduced FEV₁ in former World Trade Center workers.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Occupational exposures at the WTC site after September 11, 2001 have been associated with several presumably inflammatory lower airway diseases. Pulmonary arterial enlargement, as suggested by an increased ratio of the diameter of the pulmonary artery to the diameter of the aorta (PAAr) has been reported as a computed tomographic (CT) scan marker of adverse respiratory health outcomes, including WTC-related disease. In this study, we sought to utilize a novel quantitative CT (QCT) measurement of PAAr to test the hypothesis that an increased ratio is associated with FEV₁ below each subject's statistically determined lower limit of normal (FEV₁  < LLN).

Methods

In a group of 1,180 WTC workers and volunteers, we examined whether FEV₁  

SUBMITTER: de la Hoz RE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6783324 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature