TY - JOUR
T1 - Significant improvement from chronic beryllium disease following corticosteroid pulse therapy
AU - Nagaoka, Kaoru
AU - Yoshida, Tsutomu
AU - Sakakibara, Hiroki
AU - Kurita, Hideki
AU - Taniwaki, Hiroshige
AU - Ono, Yuichiro
PY - 2006/4
Y1 - 2006/4
N2 - Chronic beryllium disease (CBD) is a rare disease characterized by diffuse interstitial pulmonary granulomatosis. We report a case of CBD which exhibited marked improvement both subjectively and objectively following pulse therapy. The patient was a 36-year-old man whose chief complaint was dyspnea and a dry cough. Since July 1990, the patient had been working in the development of an automatic or mechanical technique for producing beryllium-copper alloy. It appeared likely that the patient may have been exposed to metal beryllium fumes generated from an opening located just above the furnace. The Be concentration exceeded 25 μg/m3 transiently in the breathing zone in this workplace. A chest X-ray film taken in October 1994 showed fine granular shadows throughout the entire lung fields. Around August 1998, the patient's dyspnea became aggravated. An X-ray taken at that time showed linear and reticular shadows, in addition to the diffuse fine granular shadow. In October 1998, after 3 days of methylprednisolone pulse therapy, oral prednisolone 30 mg was initiated. With this treatment, the patient's pulmonary function tests and blood gases improved. Once the patient's condition had improved sufficiently, the dosage of prednisolone was decreased by 2.5 mg every two weeks. The patient continues to be monitored.
AB - Chronic beryllium disease (CBD) is a rare disease characterized by diffuse interstitial pulmonary granulomatosis. We report a case of CBD which exhibited marked improvement both subjectively and objectively following pulse therapy. The patient was a 36-year-old man whose chief complaint was dyspnea and a dry cough. Since July 1990, the patient had been working in the development of an automatic or mechanical technique for producing beryllium-copper alloy. It appeared likely that the patient may have been exposed to metal beryllium fumes generated from an opening located just above the furnace. The Be concentration exceeded 25 μg/m3 transiently in the breathing zone in this workplace. A chest X-ray film taken in October 1994 showed fine granular shadows throughout the entire lung fields. Around August 1998, the patient's dyspnea became aggravated. An X-ray taken at that time showed linear and reticular shadows, in addition to the diffuse fine granular shadow. In October 1998, after 3 days of methylprednisolone pulse therapy, oral prednisolone 30 mg was initiated. With this treatment, the patient's pulmonary function tests and blood gases improved. Once the patient's condition had improved sufficiently, the dosage of prednisolone was decreased by 2.5 mg every two weeks. The patient continues to be monitored.
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U2 - 10.2486/indhealth.44.296
DO - 10.2486/indhealth.44.296
M3 - Article
C2 - 16716007
AN - SCOPUS:33646680064
SN - 0019-8366
VL - 44
SP - 296
EP - 301
JO - Industrial Health
JF - Industrial Health
IS - 2
ER -