Cardiovascular and metabolic disorders associated with occupational lung fibrosis in employees exposed to the dust at the workplace

Introduction. The attribution of certain medical conditions in industrial workers to hazardous exposures at the workplace remains a challenging issue of occupational health.

Material and methods. In order to identify cardiovascular conditions associated with occupational lung diseases in workers exposed to fibrogenic dust, we conducted a medical check-up examination of individuals employed in refractory production and asbestos industry. The main group consisted of the patients with a confirmed diagnosis of lung fibrosis (asbestosis, silicosis); the reference group was age- and tenure-matched workers without occupational fibrosis.

Results. We established a significantly higher prevalence of arterial hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, sinus tachycardia, obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and impaired fasting glycemia in workers with silicosis and asbestosis if compared to those without work-related diseases. Based on the relative risk and attributable fraction estimates, we assume there is moderate occupational causation for arterial hypertension and a strong one for left ventricular hypertrophy, sinus tachycardia, and obesity. Very strong causation was found between occupational exposure to fibrogenic dust and carbohydrate metabolism disorders. High-stage hypertension, dyslipidemia and left ventricular hypertrophy were found to have a statistically significant impact on the timing of silicosis. Whereas high-stage hypertension, coronary artery disease, left ventricular hypertrophy and obesity were found to impact the timing of asbestosis.

Conclusion. Cardiovascular and metabolic disorders are statistically more occurrent in workers with silicosis or asbestosis. Therefore, the disease can be regarded as work-related. We established cardiovascular and metabolic disorders to have a statistically significant impact on the timing of silicosis and asbestosis. Therefore, a timely CVD prophylaxis could reduce the risk of occupational lung fibrosis in workers exposed to fibrogenic dust.