To study pulmonary function in subjects accidentally exposed to nitrogen diox- ide fumes.
Design
Case series.
Setting
Medical emergency service and respiratory lab- oratory at a tertiary care hospital in North India.
Participants
Sixty-three male workers exposed to toxic fumes following an accidental explosion in a tunnel at their workplace.
Measurements & Results
Six severely ill subjects were hospitalized; of them, 2 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome needed assisted ventilation, one of whom died. Spirometry performed on the other 57 mildly affected subjects revealed restrictive defect in 42 (74%) and obstructive defect in 2 (4%) subjects. Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis showed hypoxemia in 9 (16%) and respiratory alkalosis in 34 (60%) of these subjects.
Conclusions
Acute toxic exposure to nitrogen dioxide fumes is potentially fatal. Even mildly affected and asymptomatic individuals may show abnormalities on pulmonary function evaluation.
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